Plants and animals are means for the production of molecules with high added value The evolution of genetic engineering over the last three decades allowed many molecules with high added value to be identified by scientists around the globe. These molecules have the potential to be applied in different sectors of the economy, such as health,energy agriculture, and the industrial sector. However, in the midst of so many discoveries, one question was bothering scientists. How to produce these molecules on a large scale and in an economically viable way? The answer to this question is in living organisms: plants, animals, and microorganisms can be used as biofactories or biological factories for the production of molecules with high added value on a large scale and low cost. When it comes to science and, mainly, to living things, everything is very peculiar and, in most cases, there are no generalizations. This means that for each molecule identified it is necessary to study the bestbiofactory to produce it on a large scale and with costs that make the process attractive to the market.. That is exactly what happened in the case of cyanovirin, a protein extracted from the blue-green algae Nostoc ellipsosporum that has a natural ability to bind to sugars and prevent the multiplication of the HIV virus in the human body. The positive effects of cyanovirin against AIDS had already been proven since 2008, from tests conducted with monkeys by the United States National Institute of Health (NIH). However, viable means to produce the protein on a large scale still needed to be found. After tests with bacteria, yeast, and tobacco plants, the team at Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology coordinated by the researcher Elíbio Rech, managed to show that genetically modified soybeans are an efficient and viable biofactory for the large-scale production of cyanovirin. According to him, the studies are being carried out with soybeans due to the great knowledge that the scientific community already has about the species, but the research can be made with other plant species. "Plants, in general, act as incubators of molecules and in the future will be biofactories for drugs". Moreover, according to Rech, the advantage of using GMO soybeans for the production of drugs is mostly economic. "The savings are 40 times greater in comparison with experiments done on animals. In addition, Embrapa has patents for genetic modification of soybeans worldwide, which allows scientists greater freedom to handle the crop". Unpredecented results The unprecedented result, with the partnership of the American Institute and the University of London, was published in the Editors choice section of the Science magazine (see the "Browse" section at the bottom of this article). This magazine, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), is one of the most prestigious in its class, with weekly circulation of 130,000 copies, and besides online visitors, it is estimated that it has one million readers worldwide. The research began to be developed in 2005 and is based on the introduction of cyanovirin in genetically modified soybean seeds for large-scale production. Rech, one of the authors of the article, says that tests were carried out with other biofactories such as tobacco plants (N. tabacum and N.benthamiana), bacteria (E. coli) and yeast (S. cerevisiae). However, the only biofactory that proved to be a viable option for the production of cyanovirin was the seed of GM soybeans, because it allows the protein to be widely spread in the proper amount. On top of this, there is the benefit of the low-cost investment required in the production of the raw material for the extraction of the molecule. Regarding the potential of soybeans as a biofactory, or biological factory, for the production of cyanovirin, in the abstract of the article published in Science, the scientists who wrote the article claim that "roughly, if the GM soybean is planted in a greenhouse that is smaller than a baseball field (97.54 m), it is possible to provide enough cyanovirin to protect a woman 365 days a year for 90 years". The next step is the large-scale production of soybean seeds to isolate cyanovirin and start the post-clinical studies phase. Rech emphasizes that the genetically modified seeds will not be planted in the field. They are grown under controlled conditions within greenhouses. During the next stages of development, scientists will also have the collaboration of scientists from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of South Africa (CSIR). Free access to technology In addition to being innovative, the research has a strong humanitarian component and, therefore, developing countries with high rates of AIDS infection, such as some in Africa, for example, will have license for production and internal use, free of royalties. The continent remains the most affected by the disease, with 1.1 million dead in 2013, 1.5 million new infections and 24.7 million Africans infected. South Africa and Nigeria top the list of most affected countries. In Latin America, with 1.6 million HIV-positive people in 2014 (60% of which are men), the most troubling country is Brazil, where the number of people newly infected with the virus rose 11% between 2005 and 2013, a trend opposing global figures, which showed a fall in the same period. In Asia, the countries which have the highest contamination are India and Indonesia, where infections have increased 48% since 2005. Production of medicine Biopharmaceuticals, or biological medicine, as they are also called, are obtained by biological sources or processes, from the industrial employment of microorganisms or genetically modified cells. The use of plants, animals and genetically modified microorganisms for the production of medicine is part of a technology platform with which Elíbio Rech has been working since the 1990s. The studies for the production of biopharmaceuticals are advancing, coordinated by Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, and involving other Embrapa research units, and both foreign and Brazilian research institutions and universities. In addition to the cyanovirin, the team coordinated by Rech also works with antigens as NY-ES01 and Hormad1, important elements for cancer diagnosis, with growth hormone, among others. The more advanced research consist in the development of transgenic soybean plants with antibodies against breast cancer, and transgenic plants and animals containing a protein called factor IX that can assist hemophiliacs. "Precisely because they are able to express molecules of high added value with low costs, biofactories or biological factories are viable options for the production of inputs such as drugs and fibers that are interesting for the industry", states the researcher . Today, many substances such as insulin are synthesized by traditional processes, which use bacteria or animal cells that are modified in cultures. But Rech stresses that the process has limitations, such as the maximum size and the restricted amount of produced molecules. The intention of Embrapa's group is to develop, from already domesticated plants, a diversified technology platform to produce a greater variety of molecules of industrial and pharmaceutical interests, with low cost, higher efficiency and in a sustainable way. The process works as follows: plant cells are genetically altered to receive specific genes and they act as bioreactors for the production of a specific substance. The plant transformation process begins with the introduction of the gene inside the seed through a liquid medium. After the gene insertion, the assessment and selection of plants that are producing the substance is made according to what was proposed by the research. "Transgenic seeds are stable, can be perpetuated for generations, and have the advantage of being easy to store and have millions of cells to serve as biofactories", says Rech. "The leaves, on the other hand, are temporary: they produce proteins during a period of up to seven days." In the research Unit, the plants are grown in greenhouses, in which temperatures are rigidly controlled – also, there is plenty of water and light, and security systems that allow only authorized persons to enter. They are tobacco varieties and GMO soybeans with anti-cancer antibodies, growth hormones and anti-HIV molecules encoded in their DNA. "These plants are not medicinal, and they cannot be used for therapeutic purposes as well; they act solely as incubators for the production of molecules", explains the scientist. And he complements: "The plants are used only to produce a specific medicine. The molecule is inserted and, as it is multiplied through seeds or through vegetative propagation, a significant amount is achieved and then purified. These plants don't enter the food chain under any circumstances ." Rech emphasizes that the intention now is to take the research out of the laboratory – and for this the partnership with the private sector is essential. "We showed that the concept works, but we need to combine the work of molecular biologists with the work of engineers, attract the private initiative to scale up the process and take it forward, transforming a technological asset in real innovation, something that is not simple in Brazil", he points out. "This is a demand from society, a potentially lucrative area that can attract the interest of companies to apply our results." Pharmaceutical industry Brazil is the fifth worldwide consumer of medical drugs and Brazilians spend no less than ten billion dollars per year with them. It is a very high number regarding the global industry, which moves roughly 350 billion of dollars annually. Biotechnology is emerging as an important ally in this scenario. The use of genetically modified plants and animals as biofactories for the production of safe medicine is a stimulus so that they become more accessible to the population. The turnover of biotechnology in the pharmaceutical industry worldwide has grown a lot in the last few decades, and today reaches approximately ten billion dollars per year. Biotechnological products are rapidly developing and today they represent ten percent of new products currently on the market. Rech believes the Brazilian scenario in ten years will be fully influenced by biogenetics. Embrapa's expectation when investing in biopharmaceuticals research, as explains Rech, is to put these drugs in the pharmaceutical market with lower costs, since they are produced directly in plants, bacteria, or milk. There is evidence that the use of biofactories can reduce the costs of producing recombinant proteins in up to 50 times. The researcher explains that plants produce genetically modified proteins that are identical to the original ones with little capital investment, resulting in safe products for consumers. In addition, they represent a way to produce cheap medicine in a large scale, as they are not subject to contamination, avoiding spending on the purification of organisms that are potentially disease-causing in humans. Not to mention the ease of storage and transportation.. Breast cancer prevention Breast cancer is one of the diseases that most afflict the female population worldwide. Each year, 182,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and, out of these, 43,000 die. Despite being an illness with great chances of cure when detected early, it is still the worst threat to Brazilian women, since it is the female malignant tumor with the highest incidence and mortality rates in the country. Over the past 20 years, according to data from the National Cancer Institute (Inca), breast cancer mortality has grown about 60%. The incidence rate of cancer in Brazil was estimated at 40.7 cases per 100,000 women and mortality for 10.3 of them. Genetic engineering can be a promising path for the prevention and cure of this disease and, therefore, Embrapa, Campinas State University (Unicamp) and the University of Brasília (UnB) have made efforts to develop transgenic soybean varieties with antibodies against breast cancer. These varieties will be used for the production of drugs that will act in the prevention and diagnosis of the disease and will also have therapeutic potential, even with advanced stage cancer. Factor IX The research aims to develop transgenic plants and animals capable of producing factor IX, a protein responsible for blood clotting. It is a partnership between Embrapa, the University of Brasília (UnB), the São Paulo School of Medicine (Federal University of São Paulo - Unifesp/EPM) and the Support Hospital of Brasília. Hemophiliacs do not produce this protein and, therefore, when they get injured, blood clotting speed is much slower, making them more susceptible to hemorrhage. The research is also being developed under the coordination of researcher Elíbio Rech, and aims to use soybean plants and animals like biofactories for production of factor IX in a large scale and with lower costs. Currently, hemophiliacs control the absence of factor IX with medicine. Advantages of biofactories They produce genetically modified protein, identical to the original ones, with little capital investment,resulting in safe products for the consumer; Ease of storage and transportation; Cheaper medicine and large-scale production; They assist in the study of functions of molecules from the Brazilian biodiversity; Greater value is added to agricultural products; They unite agribusiness and the pharmaceutical sector. Biotechnology and biodiversity In addition to being an important instrument for the production of pharmaceuticals, the biofactory technology can also contribute to the study of molecules from the Brazilian biodiversity. Embrapa develops a systematic work of gene collection from the Brazilian biodiversity, and many of these genes have good potential for use in agriculture and health, due to medicinal properties of their products. The technology will enable the discovery of the functions of these genes with greater speed and efficiency. Biofactories for the production of pharmaceuticals provide even more value to Brazilian agribusiness, as they add value to plants, animals and microorganisms. Scientists breed anti-AIDS molecule in rice Following this same trend of research with cyanovirin, the researchers Teresa Capell and Paul Christou of the University of Lleida, in Spain, found a viable means to produce the 2G12 antibody, a protein that neutralizes the AIDS virus. They developed transgenic rice containing the anti-HIV molecule in its DNA, thus reproducing it in a large-scale and economically viable way. That makes this rice a possible biofactory of the molecule, and have already aroused the interest of the pharmaceutical industry. The research article was released in April in the Plant Biotechnology Journal. "This is the most important scientific journal in the Biology area after Science and Nature", says the researcher Elíbio Rech, who took part in the research. According to Rech, the studies were coordinated by the Spanish University researchers, and the Brazilian participation consisted in the analysis of the modified rice and in measuring the quantity of 2G12 protein present in it. "It is a sign of the quality of Brazilian research, since the results of the study were analyzed only by Embrapa's team", boasts Rech. These analytical studies were conducted through mass spectrometry methods performed by researcher Andrew Melro Murad, from the same Embrapa Unit.. "We used state of the art mass spectrometers to measure the composition of the rice", tells Murad. In addition to the amount of molecule, he also assessed the genetically modified rice protein structure in comparison to conventional rice. The Embrapa researcher found 2G12 antibody levels between 1.8% and 2.4%. Elíbio Rech explains that those are positive values. "Above 1% we can consider the potential economic viability of the production of this molecule", he explains. The method To use rice as biofactory for the protein, the researchers took the pathogenic bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens as a vector. In this method, the bacteria are genetically engineered, a harmful gene is extracted from it, and the molecule that needs to be reproduced is placed. After being multiplied in the laboratory, the bacteria is cultivated with plants tissues. In this process, the bacteria insert their DNA in the plant, along with the desired molecule. From that tissue, new plants with the molecule are generated. The team led by Rech, when reproducing the cyanovirin protein – also used to fight AIDS – adopted another method to introduce the molecule in the plant's DNA, called bioballistics. The process consists in the use of gold or tungsten microprojectiles accelerated at high speeds − exceeding 1,500 km/h − to introduce, via bombardment, the DNA of interest in in vivo cells and tissues. Browse To learn more about biofactories, browse: http://bit.ly/biofabricas1 http://bit.ly/biofabricas2
Plants and animals are means for the production of molecules with high added value
The evolution of genetic engineering over the last three decades allowed many molecules with high added value to be identified by scientists around the globe. These molecules have the potential to be applied in different sectors of the economy, such as health,energy agriculture, and the industrial sector.
However, in the midst of so many discoveries, one question was bothering scientists. How to produce these molecules on a large scale and in an economically viable way? The answer to this question is in living organisms: plants, animals, and microorganisms can be used as biofactories or biological factories for the production of molecules with high added value on a large scale and low cost.
When it comes to science and, mainly, to living things, everything is very peculiar and, in most cases, there are no generalizations. This means that for each molecule identified it is necessary to study the bestbiofactory to produce it on a large scale and with costs that make the process attractive to the market..
That is exactly what happened in the case of cyanovirin, a protein extracted from the blue-green algae Nostoc ellipsosporum that has a natural ability to bind to sugars and prevent the multiplication of the HIV virus in the human body. The positive effects of cyanovirin against AIDS had already been proven since 2008, from tests conducted with monkeys by the United States National Institute of Health (NIH). However, viable means to produce the protein on a large scale still needed to be found.
After tests with bacteria, yeast, and tobacco plants, the team at Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology coordinated by the researcher Elíbio Rech, managed to show that genetically modified soybeans are an efficient and viable biofactory for the large-scale production of cyanovirin.
According to him, the studies are being carried out with soybeans due to the great knowledge that the scientific community already has about the species, but the research can be made with other plant species. "Plants, in general, act as incubators of molecules and in the future will be biofactories for drugs". Moreover, according to Rech, the advantage of using GMO soybeans for the production of drugs is mostly economic. "The savings are 40 times greater in comparison with experiments done on animals. In addition, Embrapa has patents for genetic modification of soybeans worldwide, which allows scientists greater freedom to handle the crop".
Unpredecented results
The unprecedented result, with the partnership of the American Institute and the University of London, was published in the Editors choice section of the Science magazine (see the "Browse" section at the bottom of this article). This magazine, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), is one of the most prestigious in its class, with weekly circulation of 130,000 copies, and besides online visitors, it is estimated that it has one million readers worldwide.
The research began to be developed in 2005 and is based on the introduction of cyanovirin in genetically modified soybean seeds for large-scale production. Rech, one of the authors of the article, says that tests were carried out with other biofactories such as tobacco plants (N. tabacum and N.benthamiana), bacteria (E. coli) and yeast (S. cerevisiae). However, the only biofactory that proved to be a viable option for the production of cyanovirin was the seed of GM soybeans, because it allows the protein to be widely spread in the proper amount. On top of this, there is the benefit of the low-cost investment required in the production of the raw material for the extraction of the molecule.
Regarding the potential of soybeans as a biofactory, or biological factory, for the production of cyanovirin, in the abstract of the article published in Science, the scientists who wrote the article claim that "roughly, if the GM soybean is planted in a greenhouse that is smaller than a baseball field (97.54 m), it is possible to provide enough cyanovirin to protect a woman 365 days a year for 90 years".
The next step is the large-scale production of soybean seeds to isolate cyanovirin and start the post-clinical studies phase. Rech emphasizes that the genetically modified seeds will not be planted in the field. They are grown under controlled conditions within greenhouses. During the next stages of development, scientists will also have the collaboration of scientists from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of South Africa (CSIR).
Free access to technology
In addition to being innovative, the research has a strong humanitarian component and, therefore, developing countries with high rates of AIDS infection, such as some in Africa, for example, will have license for production and internal use, free of royalties. The continent remains the most affected by the disease, with 1.1 million dead in 2013, 1.5 million new infections and 24.7 million Africans infected. South Africa and Nigeria top the list of most affected countries. In Latin America, with 1.6 million HIV-positive people in 2014 (60% of which are men), the most troubling country is Brazil, where the number of people newly infected with the virus rose 11% between 2005 and 2013, a trend opposing global figures, which showed a fall in the same period. In Asia, the countries which have the highest contamination are India and Indonesia, where infections have increased 48% since 2005.
Production of medicine
| Biopharmaceuticals, or biological medicine, as they are also called, are obtained by biological sources or processes, from the industrial employment of microorganisms or genetically modified cells. |
The use of plants, animals and genetically modified microorganisms for the production of medicine is part of a technology platform with which Elíbio Rech has been working since the 1990s. The studies for the production of biopharmaceuticals are advancing, coordinated by Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, and involving other Embrapa research units, and both foreign and Brazilian research institutions and universities.
In addition to the cyanovirin, the team coordinated by Rech also works with antigens as NY-ES01 and Hormad1, important elements for cancer diagnosis, with growth hormone, among others. The more advanced research consist in the development of transgenic soybean plants with antibodies against breast cancer, and transgenic plants and animals containing a protein called factor IX that can assist hemophiliacs.
"Precisely because they are able to express molecules of high added value with low costs, biofactories or biological factories are viable options for the production of inputs such as drugs and fibers that are interesting for the industry", states the researcher .
Today, many substances such as insulin are synthesized by traditional processes, which use bacteria or animal cells that are modified in cultures. But Rech stresses that the process has limitations, such as the maximum size and the restricted amount of produced molecules. The intention of Embrapa's group is to develop, from already domesticated plants, a diversified technology platform to produce a greater variety of molecules of industrial and pharmaceutical interests, with low cost, higher efficiency and in a sustainable way.
The process works as follows: plant cells are genetically altered to receive specific genes and they act as bioreactors for the production of a specific substance. The plant transformation process begins with the introduction of the gene inside the seed through a liquid medium. After the gene insertion, the assessment and selection of plants that are producing the substance is made according to what was proposed by the research.
"Transgenic seeds are stable, can be perpetuated for generations, and have the advantage of being easy to store and have millions of cells to serve as biofactories", says Rech. "The leaves, on the other hand, are temporary: they produce proteins during a period of up to seven days."
In the research Unit, the plants are grown in greenhouses, in which temperatures are rigidly controlled – also, there is plenty of water and light, and security systems that allow only authorized persons to enter. They are tobacco varieties and GMO soybeans with anti-cancer antibodies, growth hormones and anti-HIV molecules encoded in their DNA.
"These plants are not medicinal, and they cannot be used for therapeutic purposes as well; they act solely as incubators for the production of molecules", explains the scientist. And he complements: "The plants are used only to produce a specific medicine. The molecule is inserted and, as it is multiplied through seeds or through vegetative propagation, a significant amount is achieved and then purified. These plants don't enter the food chain under any circumstances ."
Rech emphasizes that the intention now is to take the research out of the laboratory – and for this the partnership with the private sector is essential. "We showed that the concept works, but we need to combine the work of molecular biologists with the work of engineers, attract the private initiative to scale up the process and take it forward, transforming a technological asset in real innovation, something that is not simple in Brazil", he points out. "This is a demand from society, a potentially lucrative area that can attract the interest of companies to apply our results."
Pharmaceutical industry
Brazil is the fifth worldwide consumer of medical drugs and Brazilians spend no less than ten billion dollars per year with them. It is a very high number regarding the global industry, which moves roughly 350 billion of dollars annually. Biotechnology is emerging as an important ally in this scenario. The use of genetically modified plants and animals as biofactories for the production of safe medicine is a stimulus so that they become more accessible to the population.
The turnover of biotechnology in the pharmaceutical industry worldwide has grown a lot in the last few decades, and today reaches approximately ten billion dollars per year. Biotechnological products are rapidly developing and today they represent ten percent of new products currently on the market. Rech believes the Brazilian scenario in ten years will be fully influenced by biogenetics.
Embrapa's expectation when investing in biopharmaceuticals research, as explains Rech, is to put these drugs in the pharmaceutical market with lower costs, since they are produced directly in plants, bacteria, or milk. There is evidence that the use of biofactories can reduce the costs of producing recombinant proteins in up to 50 times.
The researcher explains that plants produce genetically modified proteins that are identical to the original ones with little capital investment, resulting in safe products for consumers. In addition, they represent a way to produce cheap medicine in a large scale, as they are not subject to contamination, avoiding spending on the purification of organisms that are potentially disease-causing in humans. Not to mention the ease of storage and transportation..
Breast cancer prevention
Breast cancer is one of the diseases that most afflict the female population worldwide. Each year, 182,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and, out of these, 43,000 die. Despite being an illness with great chances of cure when detected early, it is still the worst threat to Brazilian women, since it is the female malignant tumor with the highest incidence and mortality rates in the country. Over the past 20 years, according to data from the National Cancer Institute (Inca), breast cancer mortality has grown about 60%. The incidence rate of cancer in Brazil was estimated at 40.7 cases per 100,000 women and mortality for 10.3 of them.
Genetic engineering can be a promising path for the prevention and cure of this disease and, therefore, Embrapa, Campinas State University (Unicamp) and the University of Brasília (UnB) have made efforts to develop transgenic soybean varieties with antibodies against breast cancer. These varieties will be used for the production of drugs that will act in the prevention and diagnosis of the disease and will also have therapeutic potential, even with advanced stage cancer.
Factor IX
The research aims to develop transgenic plants and animals capable of producing factor IX, a protein responsible for blood clotting. It is a partnership between Embrapa, the University of Brasília (UnB), the São Paulo School of Medicine (Federal University of São Paulo - Unifesp/EPM) and the Support Hospital of Brasília. Hemophiliacs do not produce this protein and, therefore, when they get injured, blood clotting speed is much slower, making them more susceptible to hemorrhage.
The research is also being developed under the coordination of researcher Elíbio Rech, and aims to use soybean plants and animals like biofactories for production of factor IX in a large scale and with lower costs. Currently, hemophiliacs control the absence of factor IX with medicine.
Advantages of biofactories
- They produce genetically modified protein, identical to the original ones, with little capital investment,resulting in safe products for the consumer;
- Ease of storage and transportation;
- Cheaper medicine and large-scale production;
- They assist in the study of functions of molecules from the Brazilian biodiversity;
- Greater value is added to agricultural products;
- They unite agribusiness and the pharmaceutical sector.
Biotechnology and biodiversity
In addition to being an important instrument for the production of pharmaceuticals, the biofactory technology can also contribute to the study of molecules from the Brazilian biodiversity.
Embrapa develops a systematic work of gene collection from the Brazilian biodiversity, and many of these genes have good potential for use in agriculture and health, due to medicinal properties of their products. The technology will enable the discovery of the functions of these genes with greater speed and efficiency.
Biofactories for the production of pharmaceuticals provide even more value to Brazilian agribusiness, as they add value to plants, animals and microorganisms.
Scientists breed anti-AIDS molecule in rice
Following this same trend of research with cyanovirin, the researchers Teresa Capell and Paul Christou of the University of Lleida, in Spain, found a viable means to produce the 2G12 antibody, a protein that neutralizes the AIDS virus. They developed transgenic rice containing the anti-HIV molecule in its DNA, thus reproducing it in a large-scale and economically viable way. That makes this rice a possible biofactory of the molecule, and have already aroused the interest of the pharmaceutical industry.
The research article was released in April in the Plant Biotechnology Journal. "This is the most important scientific journal in the Biology area after Science and Nature", says the researcher Elíbio Rech, who took part in the research.
According to Rech, the studies were coordinated by the Spanish University researchers, and the Brazilian participation consisted in the analysis of the modified rice and in measuring the quantity of 2G12 protein present in it. "It is a sign of the quality of Brazilian research, since the results of the study were analyzed only by Embrapa's team", boasts Rech. These analytical studies were conducted through mass spectrometry methods performed by researcher Andrew Melro Murad, from the same Embrapa Unit..
"We used state of the art mass spectrometers to measure the composition of the rice", tells Murad. In addition to the amount of molecule, he also assessed the genetically modified rice protein structure in comparison to conventional rice. The Embrapa researcher found 2G12 antibody levels between 1.8% and 2.4%. Elíbio Rech explains that those are positive values. "Above 1% we can consider the potential economic viability of the production of this molecule", he explains.
The method
To use rice as biofactory for the protein, the researchers took the pathogenic bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens as a vector. In this method, the bacteria are genetically engineered, a harmful gene is extracted from it, and the molecule that needs to be reproduced is placed. After being multiplied in the laboratory, the bacteria is cultivated with plants tissues. In this process, the bacteria insert their DNA in the plant, along with the desired molecule. From that tissue, new plants with the molecule are generated.
The team led by Rech, when reproducing the cyanovirin protein – also used to fight AIDS – adopted another method to introduce the molecule in the plant's DNA, called bioballistics. The process consists in the use of gold or tungsten microprojectiles accelerated at high speeds − exceeding 1,500 km/h − to introduce, via bombardment, the DNA of interest in in vivo cells and tissues.
Browse
To learn more about biofactories, browse:
http://bit.ly/biofabricas1
http://bit.ly/biofabricas2
