Genetically modified tobacco plants to fight HIV? (CNET)
Drug companies have long used plants to produce pharmaceuticals--and tobacco plants, perhaps ironically, have been explored for their potential role in fighting such things as cancer, cavities, scorpion venom, and more.
The latest big news, announced at a press conference in London this morning, is that U.K. regulators have, for the first time, approved a human clinical trial of a monoclonal antibody produced using genetically modified tobacco plants.
Monoclonal antibodies are made from identical immune cells that have been cloned from a unique parent cell to fulfill a specific role. The roots of this idea, which date back more than 100 years, helped German scientist Paul Ehrlich win a Nobel Prize in 1908 for work that ultimately resulted in an effective syphilis treatment.
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Complete article at CNET : http://cnet.co/npACqY
