Research & Development > The Technology Behind "Green" Vaccines

All vaccines work by establishing a small infection that triggers the body's immune response, alerting antibodies and white blood cells to fight the intruding virus. When the body encounters the same virus again, the immune system recognizes it and immediately produces the "same learned response, effectively destroying the virus.

Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories has developed an ingenious method of using plant viruses to carry genetic material from human and animal viruses into plants. About two weeks after a plant is infected, the plant material is harvested and used for the production of vaccines and other biomedical materials. Using this core technology, the Laboratories has developed two approaches for production and delivery of these materials:

1. Purified extracts from the plants such as tobacco are used for immunization purposes.
2. Plants are left intact for consumption as "edible" vaccines and other biomedical products.

Testing of both approaches has indicated that laboratory animals can be immunized by injection with rabies and HIV vaccines and by feeding with spinach leaves carrying these vaccines.