Transgenic Plants Produce Cervical Cancer Vaccine

Their work was reported in the September 2003 issue of the Journal of Virology.

Cervical cancer is linked to infection with HPV. Because it is the third most common cancer among women, there is a strong need for the development of an HPV preventive vaccine. In the study, tobacco and potato plants were genetically engineered to produce a major structural protein of HPV. When the protein was purified and administered to mice, it induced an immune response. When the potatoes were fed to mice, they also induced an immune response, although not as significant.

"Here, we demonstrated as a first step that it is possible to produce transgenic plants expressing the HPV 16 L1 protein in a form appropriate for immunization purposes,” said the researchers, from the Max Planck Institute in Golm (Germany).




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