Scientists work to put a vaccine in your salad
Scientists at the University of California, Riverside, recently received a grant to study whether they can turn edible plants like spinach and lettuce into mRNA vaccines.
The National Science Foundation awarded a $500,000 grant to the university’s plant-based mRNA technology project to see if scientists can harness mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines to create edible versions of the shots. The mRNA technology must be kept supercold to maintain stability during transport and storage. However, if the plant-based mRNA vaccine project is successful, it will overcome this challenge if the plants can be stored at room temperature.
“Ideally, a single plant would produce enough mRNA to vaccinate a single person,” said Juan Pablo Giraldo, an associate professor at the university’s department of botany and plant sciences who is leading the research. “We are testing this approach with spinach and lettuce and have long-term goals of people growing it in their own gardens. Farmers could eventually grow entire fields of it.”
University of San Diego and Carnegie Mellon University scientists are also collaborating in this project, according to a news release.
The project’s goals:
Discovering if they can deliver DNA with the mRNA vaccine to portions of a plant cell where it will replicate, showing the plants can produce enough mRNA to replace a shot, and finding the right dosage.
The key to making this work are chloroplasts, the small organs in plant cells that convert sunlight into the energy the plant uses, Giraldo said.
“They’re tiny, solar-powered factories that produce sugar and other molecules, which allow the plant to grow,” he said. “They’re also an untapped source for making desirable molecules.”
“I’m very excited about this research,” Giraldo said. “I think it could have a huge impact on peoples’ lives.”