Description
As I sat writing this ‘personal reflections’ manuscript in the spring of 2015, I was seeing press reports related to the use of tobacco to make an Ebola therapeutic called ZMapp. For several months newspaper articles, radio shows and hour-long TV documentaries have given the public unprecedented exposure to the fact that ‘plant-made pharmaceuticals’ (PMP) can be life-saving drugs. I have been asked by many nonspecialists – why tobacco? How can this work? After spending over twenty years doing research in this field and many, many hours in public policy meetings promoting PMPs as an important tool of public health, I do not tire of hearing the same questions. Although there is an increasing pipeline of new protein drugs that will come from plants for both human and animal health, the general public has little knowledge of these specialized tools and therefore limited support for the field. ZMapp has given us free advertising on an international scale that I could never have anticipated.
Details
Title
- Plant-made pharmaceuticals: from ‘Edible Vaccines’ to Ebola therapeutics
Contributors
- Arntzen, Charles (Author)
- ASU Biodesign Center Immunotherapy, Vaccines and Virotherapy (Contributor)
- Biodesign Institute (Contributor)
Date Created
The date the item was original created (prior to any relationship with the ASU Digital Repositories.)
2015-09-08
Resource Type
Collections this item is in
Identifier
- Digital object identifier: 10.1111/pbi.12460
- Identifier TypeInternational standard serial numberIdentifier Value1467-7644
- Identifier TypeInternational standard serial numberIdentifier Value1467-7652
Note
- The final version of this article, as published in Plant Biotechnology Journal, can be viewed online at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pbi.12460/abstract?
Citation and reuse
Cite this item
This is a suggested citation. Consult the appropriate style guide for specific citation guidelines.
Arntzen, C. (2015). Plant-made pharmaceuticals: from ‘Edible Vaccines’ to Ebola therapeutics. Plant Biotechnology Journal, 13(8), 1013-1016. doi:10.1111/pbi.12460