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Genetically modified lettuce saves lives!
March 07, 2015
Jason "Pepe"
Leafy greens like lettuce may soon be the most cost effective way to manufacture medicines. The concept is controversial because it involves genetic modification of the lettuce. Manipulating genes is nothing new. Mother nature has been manipulating genes since the beginning of life.
All life has a reproductive system and a set of blueprints (Genome/DNA). When this blueprint is modified it has a natural order or sequence. Nature does not take genes from a fish and put it into a plant. Human beings on the other hand can do this and much, much more than you can imagine. So this fact alone should in my opinion scare the hell out of you!
These new GMO organisms have patents that earn huge profits for the manufacturers. We could go on and on about this subject for years and we probably will.
Let's get back to the topic of this article. Today serious research and real results have been achieved in curing more than thirty diseases. These cures are a direct result of engineering the DNA of many edible plants. Currently, the most promising of all are lettuce plants.
So who is the leader right now in this field and what diseases are being cured in clinical trials with mice?
The man responsible for this amazing and still controversial research is Doctor Henry Danielle of the University of Pennsylvania. The diseases that have been cured so far include diabetes, HIV, cholera, malaria, polio and others.
So how does this work?
Plants have cells that are totipotent. This means that all the different tissues of a plant can be grown from a single cell. A scientist can modify one cell and then grow all the same plants from that one cell. This process can be replicated producing millions or even billions of the same plant. Every one of these plants would contain the Therapeutic protein that cures the target disease.
So why use genetic manipulation of plants to create medicines?
One good reason is that using edible plants reduces the dangers of allergic reactions. The use of plants like lettuce are fast growing and can be grown in greenhouses using hydroponics to minimize any soil borne pathogens. These plants based medicines of course would have a patent making them very valuable and profitable. On the other hand they should be much less expensive to purchase as a result of the lower cost to manufacture. The pharmaceutical giants would be at a disadvantage because the vaccines/medicines they manufacture require refrigeration and very expensive purification methods to produce. With lettuce all you need to do is freeze dry the lettuce containing the therapeutic protein/medicine and store it in a powder form without additional purification or refrigeration.
One big concern! Are these GMO medicinal plants safe for the environment?
According to Dr. Danielle, he is not engineering these plants in the way that the agro biotech giants (Dow, Monsanto) produce GMO's. He does not work with the plants nuclear genome. This does not allow for the creation of transgenic corn, soy, cotton etc...
Transgenic plants can produce flowers sending out pollen that can cross pollinate with wild species or non GMO corn and create new mutations.
Today many people are concerned that these could cause serious environmental dangers. Let your imagination take over and give this some thought. Hmmm. Well, I sure can think of it as a serious environmental risk how about you?
The way Doctor Danielle engineers the lettuce eliminates the risk of cross pollination. All of his plants are greenhouse grown and they are produced from seed that are identical to the mother plant and contain the therapeutic protein needed to fight the disease targeted. The medicine is made only from the leaf and not from the seed.
So when will these new wonder drugs be available?
No one can be sure. The FDA must first approve the medicines and these drugs must of course make it past clinical trials. All of this effort takes time and lot's of money. As for the money, the future is bright with continued funding by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other charitable organizations.
Jason "Pepe"
Leafy greens like lettuce may soon be the most cost effective way to manufacture medicines. The concept is controversial because it involves genetic modification of the lettuce. Manipulating genes is nothing new. Mother nature has been manipulating genes since the beginning of life.
All life has a reproductive system and a set of blueprints (Genome/DNA). When this blueprint is modified it has a natural order or sequence. Nature does not take genes from a fish and put it into a plant. Human beings on the other hand can do this and much, much more than you can imagine. So this fact alone should in my opinion scare the hell out of you!
These new GMO organisms have patents that earn huge profits for the manufacturers. We could go on and on about this subject for years and we probably will.
Let's get back to the topic of this article. Today serious research and real results have been achieved in curing more than thirty diseases. These cures are a direct result of engineering the DNA of many edible plants. Currently, the most promising of all are lettuce plants.
So who is the leader right now in this field and what diseases are being cured in clinical trials with mice?
The man responsible for this amazing and still controversial research is Doctor Henry Danielle of the University of Pennsylvania. The diseases that have been cured so far include diabetes, HIV, cholera, malaria, polio and others.
So how does this work?
Plants have cells that are totipotent. This means that all the different tissues of a plant can be grown from a single cell. A scientist can modify one cell and then grow all the same plants from that one cell. This process can be replicated producing millions or even billions of the same plant. Every one of these plants would contain the Therapeutic protein that cures the target disease.
So why use genetic manipulation of plants to create medicines?
One good reason is that using edible plants reduces the dangers of allergic reactions. The use of plants like lettuce are fast growing and can be grown in greenhouses using hydroponics to minimize any soil borne pathogens. These plants based medicines of course would have a patent making them very valuable and profitable. On the other hand they should be much less expensive to purchase as a result of the lower cost to manufacture. The pharmaceutical giants would be at a disadvantage because the vaccines/medicines they manufacture require refrigeration and very expensive purification methods to produce. With lettuce all you need to do is freeze dry the lettuce containing the therapeutic protein/medicine and store it in a powder form without additional purification or refrigeration.
One big concern! Are these GMO medicinal plants safe for the environment?
According to Dr. Danielle, he is not engineering these plants in the way that the agro biotech giants (Dow, Monsanto) produce GMO's. He does not work with the plants nuclear genome. This does not allow for the creation of transgenic corn, soy, cotton etc...
Transgenic plants can produce flowers sending out pollen that can cross pollinate with wild species or non GMO corn and create new mutations.
Today many people are concerned that these could cause serious environmental dangers. Let your imagination take over and give this some thought. Hmmm. Well, I sure can think of it as a serious environmental risk how about you?
The way Doctor Danielle engineers the lettuce eliminates the risk of cross pollination. All of his plants are greenhouse grown and they are produced from seed that are identical to the mother plant and contain the therapeutic protein needed to fight the disease targeted. The medicine is made only from the leaf and not from the seed.
So when will these new wonder drugs be available?
No one can be sure. The FDA must first approve the medicines and these drugs must of course make it past clinical trials. All of this effort takes time and lot's of money. As for the money, the future is bright with continued funding by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other charitable organizations.
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