The Experts below are selected from a list of 5805 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
R. Fischer - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Applied Bioengineering - Contained Molecular Farming Using Plant Cell and Tissue Cultures
Applied Bioengineering, 2017Co-Authors: Stefan Schillberg, Richard M. Twyman, R. Fischer, Nicole Raven, Andreas SchiermeyerAbstract:Plant cell suspension cultures grow in a liquid medium as individual cells or small aggregates, and are usually derived from callus tissue by the disaggregation of friable callus pieces in shake flasks. Recombinant proteins produced by sterile cultures of plant cells and tissues can be secreted into the medium if an N-terminal signal peptide is used to direct the protein into the secretory pathway. The first approved veterinary and pharmaceutical proteins produced by Molecular Farming were manufactured using cell suspension cultures. This required several technical, regulatory, and commercial barriers to be addressed. The principal technical barriers were the low specific productivity, low recovery, and variable quality associated with plant-derived pharmaceuticals. The quality and consistency of recombinant proteins produced in plant cells depends on two types of processing, namely the processing associated with protein synthesis and activity, and the processing associated with protein damage and degradation
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Molecular Farming in Plants: The Long Road to the Market
Commercial Plant-Produced Recombinant Protein Products, 2014Co-Authors: R. Fischer, Stefan Schillberg, Johannes F. Buyel, Richard M. TwymanAbstract:Recombinant proteins can be produced on a commercial scale using a diverse array of host systems based on microbes, animals, and plants. Commercially established processes have resolved to a small number of standard platforms, including the bacterium Escherichia coli, the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris, and certain well-characterized insect and mammalian cell lines. In contrast, many different plant-based systems have been developed and only in the last few years have standardized platforms begun to emerge. The diversity of plant-based platforms has been advantageous to Molecular Farming by helping to overcome technical issues, but the failure to focus on specific platforms has made the transition from experimental development to a viable commercial process a long and difficult one. As well as the technical and economic principles required to develop a viable manufacturing processes, plants have also been held back by the lack of a harmonized regulatory system for plant-derived pharmaceutical products, such that much of the early commercial development of Molecular Farming focused on non-pharmaceutical proteins. Despite these hurdles, pharmaceutical Molecular Farming is now firmly established in the market, and we are witnessing the dawn of a new age in which plants are regarded as competitive platforms for the commercial production of diverse recombinant pharmaceutical protein products.
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Molecular Farming of fluorescent virus-based nanoparticles for optical imaging in plants, human cells and mouse models
Biomaterials science, 2014Co-Authors: Sourabh Shukla, R. Fischer, Ulrich Commandeur, Christina Dickmeis, A. S. Nagarajan, Nicole F. SteinmetzAbstract:The application of plant virus-derived nanostructures in materials science, biomedical research and engineering has recently been promoted by the development of fluorescence-labeled viruses for optical imaging in tissue culture and preclinical animal models. Most studies reported thus far have focused on the application of viruses that have been chemically modified with organic dyes. In this investigation, we sought to develop and study genetically-engineered virus-based biomaterials that incorporate green or red fluorescent proteins. The genetic introduction of such imaging moieties is advantageous because post-harvest modifications are not required, thus minimizing the number of manufacturing steps and maximizing the yields of each fluorescent probe. Specifically, we engineered the filamentous plant virus Potato virus X (PVX) to display green fluorescent protein (GFP) or mCherry as N-terminal coat protein (CP) fusions, producing a 1 : 3 fusion protein to CP ratio. The infection of Nicotiana benthamiana plants with the recombinant GFP-PVX and mCherry-PVX particles was documented by fluorescence imaging, structural analysis and genetic characterization to determine the stability of the chimeras and optimize the Molecular Farming protocols. We also demonstrated the application of fluorescent mCherry-PVX filaments as probes for optical imaging in human cancer cells and a preclinical mouse model. Cell viability assays and histological analysis following the administration of mCherry-PVX indicated the biocompatibility and rapid tissue clearance of the particles. Such particles could therefore be functionalized with additional cancer-specific detection ligands to provide tools for Molecular imaging, allowing the investigation of Molecular signatures, disease progression/recurrence and the efficacy of novel therapies.
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Molecular Farming of human tissue transglutaminase in tobacco plants.
Amino acids, 2008Co-Authors: Angela Sorrentino, Stefan Schillberg, R. Fischer, Raffaele Porta, Loredana MarinielloAbstract:In this study we have utilized Nicotiana tabacum with a Molecular Farming purpose in attempt of producing transgenic plants expressing the human tissue transglutaminase (htTG). Three plant expression constructs were used enabling targeting and accumulation of the recombinant protein into the plant cell cytosol (cyto), the chloroplasts (chl) and the apoplastic space (apo). Analysis of transgenic T0 plants revealed that recombinant htTG was detectable in all three transgenic lines and the accumulation levels were in a range of 18–75 μg/g of leaf material. In the T1 generation, the recombinant htTG was still expressed at high level and a significant catalytic activity was detected into the leaf protein extracts. Southern blot analyses revealed that apo and chl plants of T1 generation possess a high copy number of the recombinant htTG in their genome, while the cyto plants carry a single copy.
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Molecular Farming for new drugs and vaccines. Current perspectives on the production of pharmaceuticals in transgenic plants
EMBO reports, 2005Co-Authors: Julian K.-c., R. Fischer, Paul Christou, Eugenia Barros, Ralph Bock, Philip J. Dale, Philip J. Dix, Judith A. Irwin, Richard Mahoney, Mario PezzottiAbstract:The European Union Framework 6 Pharma–Planta Consortium The first recombinant plant‐derived pharmaceutical protein (PDP) was human serum albumin, initially produced in 1990 in transgenic tobacco and potato plants (Sijmons et al , 1990). Fifteen years on, the first technical proteins produced in transgenic plants are on the market, and proof of concept has been established for the production of many therapeutic proteins, including antibodies, blood products, cytokines, growth factors, hormones, recombinant enzymes and human and veterinary vaccines (Twyman et al , 2005). Furthermore, several PDP products for the treatment of human diseases are approaching commercialization (Table 1), including recombinant gastric lipase for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, and antibodies for the prevention of dental caries and the treatment of non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma (Ma et al , 2003). There are also several veterinary vaccines in the pipeline; Dow AgroSciences (Indianapolis, IN, USA) announced recently their intention to produce plant‐based vaccines for the animal health industry. View this table: Table 1. Plant‐derived pharmaceutical proteins that are closest to commercialization for the treatment of human diseases As Molecular Farming has come of age, there have been technological developments on many levels, including transformation methods, control of gene expression, protein targeting and accumulation, the use of different crops as production platforms (Twyman et al , 2003), and modifications to alter the structural and functional properties of the product. One of the most important driving factors has been yield improvement, as product yield has a significant impact on economic feasibility. Strategies to improve the recombinant protein yield in plants include the development of novel promoters, the improvement of protein stability and accumulation through the use of signals that target the protein to intracellular compartments, and the improvement of downstream processing technologies (Menkhaus et al , 2004). Attention is now shifting from basic research towards commercial exploitation, and Molecular Farming is reaching the stage at which it could challenge established production technologies that use bacteria, yeast and cultured mammalian cells. …
Neil Emans - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Molecular Farming in Plants: Technology Platforms
Encyclopedia of Plant and Crop Science, 2004Co-Authors: R. Fischer, Richard M. Twyman, Neil Emans, Stefan SchillbergAbstract:INTRODUCTIONThe large-scale production of recombinant proteins inplants is known as Molecular Farming. Plants have manyadvantages in terms of cost, practicality, and safety overtraditional expression systems and are emerging as a sig-nificant force in the commercial sector. Providing ade-quate yields can be obtained, it is estimated that re-combinant proteins can be produced in plants at 210% ofthe cost of microbial fermentation systems and at 0.1% ofthe cost of mammalian cell cultures/transgenic animals.Plants lack the endotoxins often produced by microbialcultures and, unlike animal cells, do not harbor humanpathogens or oncogenic DNA sequences. Posttranslationalmodification occurs in a similar manner in plant andanimal cells with only minor differences in glycan chainstructure, which makes plants suitable for the productionof complex human glycoproteins. Plants also have anumber of unique practical advantages such as the highstability of proteins expressed in seeds and the ability toexpress pharmaceutical proteins in edible organs for oraladministration with minimal processing.PLANT-BASED EXPRESSION SYSTEMSTransgenic PlantsIn the vast majority of cases, Molecular Farming has beenachieved by stable transformation and the regeneration oftransgenic plants.
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Molecular Farming of antibodies in plants
Die Naturwissenschaften, 2003Co-Authors: Stefan Schillberg, R. Fischer, Neil EmansAbstract:'Molecular Farming' is the production of valuable recombinant proteins in transgenic organisms on an agricultural scale. While plants have long been used as a source of medicinal compounds, Molecular Farming represents a novel source of Molecular medicines, such as plasma proteins, enzymes, growth factors, vaccines and recombinant antibodies, whose medical benefits are understood at a Molecular level. Until recently, the broad use of Molecular medicines was limited because of the difficulty in producing these proteins outside animals or animal cell culture. The application of Molecular biology and plant biotechnology in the 1990s showed that many Molecular medicines or vaccines could be synthesised in plants and this technology is termed 'Molecular Farming'. It results in pharmaceuticals that are safer, easier to produce and less expensive than those produced in animals or microbial culture. An advantage of Molecular Farming lies in the ability to perform protein production on a massive scale using hectares of cultivated plants. These plants can then be harvested and transported using the agricultural infrastructure. Thus, Molecular Farming allows rapid progress from genetic engineering to crop production, and new cash crops producing recombinant proteins are already being commercially exploited. We speculate that as functional genomics teaches us more about the nature of disease, Molecular Farming will produce many of the protein therapeutics that can remedy it.
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Antibody Molecular Farming in plants and plant cells
Phytochemistry Reviews, 2002Co-Authors: Stefan Schillberg, Neil Emans, R. FischerAbstract:`Molecular Farming' is a novel approach to the production of pharmaceuticals, where valuable recombinant proteins can be produced in transgenic organisms on an agricultural scale. Plants have been traditionally used as a source of medicines, but the use of transgenic plants in Molecular Farming represents a novel source of Molecular medicines that include plasma proteins, enzymes, growth factors, vaccines and recombinant antibodies. Until recently, the wide use of these Molecular medicines was limited because of the difficulty in producing these proteins outside animals or animal cell cultures. The application of Molecular biology and plant biotechnology in the 1990s showed that many Molecular medicines could be synthesised in plants. The goal of this Molecular Farming technology is to produce pharmaceuticals that are safer, easier to produce and less expensive than those produced in animals or microbial cultures. Here, we examine the production of recombinant antibodies by Molecular Farming.
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Molecular Farming of medicines : a field of growing promise
Outlook on Agriculture, 2001Co-Authors: R. Fischer, Stefan Schillberg, Neil EmansAbstract:Man has been using plants as a source of medicines for millennia. From the earliest stages of civilization, herbs and plant extracts have been sought that ease suffering and cure disease. In the last half of the twentieth century, Molecular biology research has identified many Molecular medicines that can treat illness, such as recombinant antibodies, vaccines and growth hormones. Widespread use of Molecular medicines has been hampered by the difficulty in producing them outside animals or animal cells, making them expensive and in short supply. In the 1990s, the fusion of Molecular medicine and plant biotechnology showed that many Molecular medicines or vaccines could be grown in plants. This new field is called 'Molecular Farming', and the Molecular medicines made in plants are safer, easier to produce and less expensive than those produced in animals or microbes. Molecular Farming is already being used to grow new cash crops rich in Molecular medicines and it will have a profound impact on the economics of both agriculture and the pharmaceutical industry. Through modem technology, science has once again made plants a source of new medicines, albeit Molecular ones tailored to treat the - diseases of the twenty-first century. The farmers of the future could be growing crops to provide the medicines that governments and pharmaceutical companies require.
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Molecular Farming of pharmaceutical proteins.
Transgenic research, 2000Co-Authors: R. Fischer, Neil EmansAbstract:Molecular Farming is the production of pharmaceutically important and commercially valuable proteins in plants. Its purpose is to provide a safe and inexpensive means for the mass production of recombinant pharmaceutical proteins. Complex mammalian proteins can be produced in transformed plants or transformed plant suspension cells. Plants are suitable for the production of pharmaceutical proteins on a field scale because the expressed proteins are functional and almost indistinguishable from their mammalian counterparts. The breadth of therapeutic proteins produced by plants range from interleukins to recombinant antibodies. Molecular Farming in plants has the potential to provide virtually unlimited quantities of recombinant proteins for use as diagnostic and therapeutic tools in health care and the life sciences. Plants produce a large amount of biomass and protein production can be increased using plant suspension cell culture in fermenters, or by the propagation of stably transformed plant lines in the field. Transgenic plants can also produce organs rich in a recombinant protein for its long-term storage. This demonstrates the promise of using transgenic plants as bioreactors for the Molecular Farming of recombinant therapeutics, including vaccines, diagnostics, such as recombinant antibodies, plasma proteins, cytokines and growth factors.
Stefan Schillberg - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Plant Molecular Farming for the production of valuable proteins - Critical evaluation of achievements and future challenges.
Journal of plant physiology, 2021Co-Authors: Stefan Schillberg, Ricarda FinnernAbstract:Abstract Recombinant proteins play an important role in many areas of our lives. For example, recombinant enzymes are used in the food and chemical industries and as high-quality proteins for research, diagnostic and therapeutic applications. The production of recombinant proteins is still dominated by expression systems based on microbes and mammalian cells, although the manufacturing of recombinant proteins in plants – known as Molecular Farming – has been promoted as an alternative, cost-efficient strategy for three decades. Several Molecular Farming products have reached the market, but the number of success stories has been limited by industrial inertia driven by perceptions of low productivity, the high cost of downstream processing, and regulatory hurdles that create barriers to translation. Here, we discuss the technical and economic factors required for the successful commercialization of Molecular Farming, and consider potential future directions to enable the broader application of production platforms based on plants.
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Applied Bioengineering - Contained Molecular Farming Using Plant Cell and Tissue Cultures
Applied Bioengineering, 2017Co-Authors: Stefan Schillberg, Richard M. Twyman, R. Fischer, Nicole Raven, Andreas SchiermeyerAbstract:Plant cell suspension cultures grow in a liquid medium as individual cells or small aggregates, and are usually derived from callus tissue by the disaggregation of friable callus pieces in shake flasks. Recombinant proteins produced by sterile cultures of plant cells and tissues can be secreted into the medium if an N-terminal signal peptide is used to direct the protein into the secretory pathway. The first approved veterinary and pharmaceutical proteins produced by Molecular Farming were manufactured using cell suspension cultures. This required several technical, regulatory, and commercial barriers to be addressed. The principal technical barriers were the low specific productivity, low recovery, and variable quality associated with plant-derived pharmaceuticals. The quality and consistency of recombinant proteins produced in plant cells depends on two types of processing, namely the processing associated with protein synthesis and activity, and the processing associated with protein damage and degradation
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Tackling Unwanted Proteolysis in Plant Production Hosts Used for Molecular Farming.
Frontiers in plant science, 2016Co-Authors: Manoj K. Mandal, Stefan Schillberg, Houtan Ahvari, Andreas SchiermeyerAbstract:Although the field of Molecular Farming has significantly matured over the last years, some obstacles still need to be resolved. A major limiting factor for a broader application of plant hosts for the production of valuable recombinant proteins is the low yield of intact recombinant proteins. These low yields are at least in part due to the action of endogenous plant proteases on the foreign recombinant proteins. This mini review will present the current knowledge of the proteolytic enzymes involved in the degradation of different target proteins and strategies that are applied to suppress undesirable proteolytic activities in order to safeguard recombinant proteins during the production process.
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Molecular Farming – Production of pharmaceuticals in plants and plant cells
Planta Medica, 2014Co-Authors: Stefan SchillbergAbstract:Many different plant-based systems have been used to produce valuable small molecules or recombinant proteins but only a small number have made the leap from an experimental platform to a viable commercial process. This reflects a combination of factors, principally the technical issues that must be addressed to achieve competitive performance, the economic principles that need to be satisfied to ensure manufacturing processes are financially viable and sustainable, and the regulatory demands that must be met to ensure that products manufactured in plants are safe, efficacious and meet the quality standards demanded by the regulators [1,2]. In general, plants and plant cells are ideal production platforms, which can be easily scaled up to provide valuable products for pharmaceutical, cosmetic and industrial applications. Typically plant systems are grown in containment under defined conditions, either in the greenhouse or in bioreactors, allowing process controls to regulate growth and product formation, thus ensuring regulatory compliance. In this presentation, the advantages and disadvantages of commonly used plant-based systems are presented as well as strategies for recovering the final product. In many cases production and downstream processes have to be optimized to establish a commercially viable platform and therefore novel strategies for strain and process optimization, helping to increase yields and scalability are presented. These approaches include the optimization of expression vectors and recombinant protein targeting [3], the testing of different plant platforms [4], the use of statistical experimental techniques to optimise medium and cultivation conditions [5], establishment of elite lines by flow cytometry [6], as well as strategies for scale up and GMP-compliant production [7]. References: [1] Schillberg S, Raven N, Fischer R, Twyman RM, Schiermeyer A. Molecular Farming of pharmaceutical proteins using plant suspension cell and tissue cultures. Current Pharmaceutical Design 2013; 19(31), 5531 – 5542. [2] Fischer R, Schillberg S, Buyel JF, Twyman RM. Commercial aspects of pharmaceutical production in plants. Current Pharmaceutical Design 2013; 19(31), 5471 – 5477. [3] di Fiore S, Li Q, Leech M, Schuster F, Emans N, Fischer R, Schillberg S. Targeting tryptophan decarboxylase to selected subcellular compartments of tobacco plants effects enzyme stability and in vivo function and leads to a lesion-mimic phenotype. Plant Physiology 2002; 129(3), 1160 – 1169. [4] Vasilev N, Schmitz C, Gromping U, Fischer R, Schillberg S. Assessment of cultivation factors that affect biomass and geraniol production in transgenic tobacco cell suspension cultures. PLoS ONE, in press. [5] Vasilev N, Schmitz C, Dong L, Ritala A, Imseng N, Hakkinen ST, van der Krol S, Eibl R, Oksman-Caldentey KM, Bouwmeester H, Fischer R, Schillberg S. Comparison of plant-based expression platforms for the heterologous production of geraniol. Plant Tissue, Cell and Organ Culture 2014; 117(3), 373 – 380. [6] Kirchhoff J, Raven N, Boes A, Roberts JL, Russell S, Treffenfeldt W, Fischer R, Schinkel H, Schiermeyer A, Schillberg S. Monoclonal tobacco cell lines with enhanced recombinant protein yields can be generated from heterogeneous cell suspension cultures by flow sorting. Plant Biotechnology Journal 2012; 10, 936 – 944. [7] Raven N, Rasche S, Kuehn C, Anderlei T, Klockner W, Schuster F, Henquet M, Bosch D, Buchs J, Fischer R, Schillberg S. Scaled-up manufacturing of recombinant antibodies produced by plant cells in a 200 L orbitally shaken disposable bioreactor. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, in press.
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Molecular Farming in Plants: The Long Road to the Market
Commercial Plant-Produced Recombinant Protein Products, 2014Co-Authors: R. Fischer, Stefan Schillberg, Johannes F. Buyel, Richard M. TwymanAbstract:Recombinant proteins can be produced on a commercial scale using a diverse array of host systems based on microbes, animals, and plants. Commercially established processes have resolved to a small number of standard platforms, including the bacterium Escherichia coli, the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris, and certain well-characterized insect and mammalian cell lines. In contrast, many different plant-based systems have been developed and only in the last few years have standardized platforms begun to emerge. The diversity of plant-based platforms has been advantageous to Molecular Farming by helping to overcome technical issues, but the failure to focus on specific platforms has made the transition from experimental development to a viable commercial process a long and difficult one. As well as the technical and economic principles required to develop a viable manufacturing processes, plants have also been held back by the lack of a harmonized regulatory system for plant-derived pharmaceutical products, such that much of the early commercial development of Molecular Farming focused on non-pharmaceutical proteins. Despite these hurdles, pharmaceutical Molecular Farming is now firmly established in the market, and we are witnessing the dawn of a new age in which plants are regarded as competitive platforms for the commercial production of diverse recombinant pharmaceutical protein products.
Armin Spök - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Molecular Farming on the rise gmo regulators still walking a tightrope
Trends in Biotechnology, 2007Co-Authors: Armin SpökAbstract:Recent increases in EU commercial and academic activities in Molecular Farming, and the proximity to market-stage of the first plant-made pharmaceuticals, represent a call to action for EU regulators. Drawing on the North American debate on Molecular Farming, it will be argued that both the rationale and the risks of Molecular Farming will differ significantly from those of first generation GM crops. Based on these differences, the suitability of the existing regulatory frameworks, which were developed in response to the arrival of earlier products, is discussed, and specific options for adapting the already complex EU regulatory system to cater for Molecular Farming are examined.
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Molecular Farming on the rise – GMO regulators still walking a tightrope
Trends in biotechnology, 2006Co-Authors: Armin SpökAbstract:Recent increases in EU commercial and academic activities in Molecular Farming, and the proximity to market-stage of the first plant-made pharmaceuticals, represent a call to action for EU regulators. Drawing on the North American debate on Molecular Farming, it will be argued that both the rationale and the risks of Molecular Farming will differ significantly from those of first generation GM crops. Based on these differences, the suitability of the existing regulatory frameworks, which were developed in response to the arrival of earlier products, is discussed, and specific options for adapting the already complex EU regulatory system to cater for Molecular Farming are examined.
Sebastian S Fuller - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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new hope for a cursed crop understanding stakeholder attitudes to plant Molecular Farming with modified tobacco in europe
Frontiers in Plant Science, 2020Co-Authors: Jonathan Menary, Mario Amato, Andres Cid Sanchez, Matthew Hobbs, Agata Pacho, Sebastian S FullerAbstract:Plant Molecular Farming with tobacco could provide a sustainable and cheap platform for the production of high-value proteins for medical use. It could also offer European tobacco farmers an alternative, healthful end use for their crop. New plant breeding techniques offer a means of quickly and precisely optimising Molecular Farming platforms for this purpose. However, there has been little empirical research focussing on the barriers and facilitators of these technologies in the agricultural sphere. Here, we explore key stakeholder perceptions towards this combination of technologies, exploring their understanding of risk and opportunity. We interviewed N=24 key stakeholders – tobacco farmers, agronomists, policymakers and researchers – in three tobacco-growing areas of Spain and Italy. Our findings demonstrate these stakeholders have a favourable attitude towards plant Molecular Farming with tobacco due to its beneficial medical purpose and the opportunity it provides farmers to continue growing tobacco in a declining European market. Tobacco producers also reported favourable views towards new plant breeding techniques, though for some this was contingent on their use for non-food crops like tobacco. Most stakeholders’ concerns are economic in nature, such as potential profitability and demands for new agronomic practices or infrastructure. Tobacco producer associations were thought to be important facilitators for future plant Molecular Farming scale-up. The attitude towards these technologies by smoking tobacco companies is, however, unknown and constitutes a potential risk to the development of plant Molecular Farming.
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New Hope for a “Cursed” Crop? Understanding Stakeholder Attitudes to Plant Molecular Farming With Modified Tobacco in Europe
Frontiers in plant science, 2020Co-Authors: Jonathan Menary, Mario Amato, Andres Cid Sanchez, Matthew Hobbs, Agata Pacho, Sebastian S FullerAbstract:Plant Molecular Farming with tobacco could provide a sustainable and cheap platform for the production of high-value proteins for medical use. It could also offer European tobacco farmers an alternative, healthful end use for their crop. New plant breeding techniques offer a means of quickly and precisely optimising Molecular Farming platforms for this purpose. However, there has been little empirical research focussing on the barriers and facilitators of these technologies in the agricultural sphere. Here, we explore key stakeholder perceptions towards this combination of technologies, exploring their understanding of risk and opportunity. We interviewed N=24 key stakeholders – tobacco farmers, agronomists, policymakers and researchers – in three tobacco-growing areas of Spain and Italy. Our findings demonstrate these stakeholders have a favourable attitude towards plant Molecular Farming with tobacco due to its beneficial medical purpose and the opportunity it provides farmers to continue growing tobacco in a declining European market. Tobacco producers also reported favourable views towards new plant breeding techniques, though for some this was contingent on their use for non-food crops like tobacco. Most stakeholders’ concerns are economic in nature, such as potential profitability and demands for new agronomic practices or infrastructure. Tobacco producer associations were thought to be important facilitators for future plant Molecular Farming scale-up. The attitude towards these technologies by smoking tobacco companies is, however, unknown and constitutes a potential risk to the development of plant Molecular Farming.
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Shotguns vs Lasers: Identifying barriers and facilitators to scaling-up plant Molecular Farming for high-value health products.
PloS one, 2020Co-Authors: Jonathan Menary, Matthew Hobbs, Agata Pacho, Julian K.-c., Sara Mesquita De Albuquerque, Pascal M. W. Drake, Alison Prendiville, Sebastian S FullerAbstract:Plant Molecular Farming (PMF) is a convenient and cost-effective way to produce high-value recombinant proteins that can be used in the production of a range of health products, from pharmaceutical therapeutics to cosmetic products. New plant breeding techniques (NPBTs) provide a means to enhance PMF systems more quickly and with greater precision than ever before. However, the feasibility, regulatory standing and social acceptability of both PMF and NPBTs are in question. This paper explores the perceptions of key stakeholders on two European Union (EU) Horizon 2020 programmes-Pharma-Factory and Newcotiana-towards the barriers and facilitators of PMF and NPBTs in Europe. One-on-one qualitative interviews were undertaken with N = 20 individuals involved in one or both of the two projects at 16 institutions in seven countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Spain and the UK). The findings indicate that the current EU regulatory environment and the perception of the public towards biotechnology are seen as the main barriers to scaling-up PMF and NPBTs. Competition from existing systems and the lack of plant-specific regulations likewise present challenges for PMF developing beyond its current niche. However, respondents felt that the communication of the benefits and purpose of NPBT PMF could provide a platform for improving the social acceptance of genetic modification. The importance of the media in this process was highlighted. This article also uses the multi-level perspective to explore the ways in which NPBTs are being legitimated by interested parties and the systemic factors that have shaped and are continuing to shape the development of PMF in Europe.