Plant-based mucosal vaccine delivery systems

Plant-based vaccines (PbVs), developed with novel plant genetic engineering technologies, offer a new strategy for the production, storage, and delivery of vaccines. PbVs can overcome practical and economic concerns surrounding injectable vaccines, including the need for medical staff to perform the injections and the costs of production and refrigeration. The development of unrefrigerated, needle-free vaccines will support the prevention of infectious diseases in developing countries. Although no PbV has yet been licensed for human clinical use, some are now in clinical trials. Antigen-encoding genes introduced into potatoes, lettuce, spinach, corn, tobacco, soybeans, and rice can produce vaccines against mucosal and systemic infectious diseases, including enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholerae, norovirus, influenza virus, hepatitis B virus, and rabies virus. This chapter introduces the plant genetic engineering technologies used and clinical trials of PbVs.