Transgenic plants as bioreactors

Abstract

Recent advances in molecular and cellular biology have led to the development of technology to engineer plants that are capable of producing a wide variety of products. These include products for pharmaceutical applications, like vaccine antigens, antibodies, antibody-derived fragments and other therapeutic proteins. It is possible to alter endogenous metabolic pathways to obtain new products, like plastics, or to confer novel traits, such as improved nutritional value.