Transgenic tobacco, potato and banana as edible vaccines
Several examples of successful production of prospective edible vaccines through transgenic plants are listed in the table. It may be seen that in majority of cases, transgenic tobacco plants were used, although other plants like potato, cowpea and blackeyed bean were also used. In some of these cases, the oral immunogenicity was tested in mice and positive results were obtained and recovery of antibodies was possible. It is hoped that eventually transgenic banana will be the fruit of choice of be used as edible vaccine, because banana is grown extensively throughout the world and can be consumed raw without any modification or processing of the edible part. The disease that will be targeted for production of edible banana vaccines may initially include measles, polio, diphtheria, yellow fever, viral diarrhea and hepatitis B, which will be successfully produced and used in the developing countries.