GM 'pharming' may address drug needs

GENETICALLY MODIFIED plants that produce therapeutic drugs can help address our increasing global need for pharmaceuticals, a conference in Dublin heard yesterday.

"Molecular pharming", or growing crops that have been genetically engineered to produce drugs or vaccines, could allow cost-effective production of "recombinant" molecules on a large scale, Prof Julian Ma from the University of London said.

Addressing a conference to celebrate 50 years of genetics at Trinity College Dublin, Prof Ma said that GM plants could supply pharmaceutical agents in large and affordable amounts.

"Plants are the only feasible production system for some proteins that are required on a massive scale," he said. "This application of GM plants seems to be missed on the public radar."

A hepatitis B vaccine grown in potatoes was already in human trials, noted Prof Ma. "But it doesn't mean that you will walk in and buy your vaccine off the supermarket shelf," he said.

He noted public concerns over GM safety and outlined measures to contain crops and ensure the resulting drugs were useful and safe. "There is comprehensive regulatory oversight at each stage."

Plant-derived pharmaceuticals were already in use in animal healthcare, and products for humans would be on the market within the next year, said Prof Ma.

Plants were also on the menu for a talk that pumped up the nutritional punch of spinach. Using Popeye as a role model, Prof Steve Whitehead from the University of Pennsylvania teased out how our bodies process folate, a B-vitamin found in green leafy vegetables.

Delegates heard of research into gene therapy for retinitis pigmentosa, a form of progressive blindness. Trinity professor Jane Farrar said the condition had a complex genetic backdrop, but outlined promising strategies to turn off a defective gene in the eye.

The conference continues today at Trinity, and a public symposium, The Secret of Life: Genetics in the 21st Century , takes place tomorrow in the D4 Hotel Ballsbridge Inn (formerly Jurys) in Dublin. See www.genetics50.org.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times