Kirjahaku

Recent scientific advances have made it possible to produce biopharmaceuticals in genetically modified plants and animals, such as maize, tobacco, goats, and chickens. This new branch of biotechnology is termed pharming, composed of the terms pharmaceuticals and farming. Pharming constitutes an overlap of red and green biotechnology. It offers the prospect of a quicker, cheaper, and more flexible production of biopharmaceuticals compared with current production processes. This is a promising perspective in light of the rapidly growing market of biopharmaceuticals, although the economic competitiveness of pharming remains to be proven. Besides possible benefits for producers, patients and health care systems, pharming also raises a number of complex ecological, social, moral and legal questions that have as yet not been thoroughly discussed. The present book contains the findings of an interdisciplinary research project that has addressed a large range of questions associated with pharming: An analysis of the state-of-the-art of plant pharming and animal pharming technologies is followed by an assessment of environmental risks related to pharming and welfare risks for pharming animals. Public views and attitudes to pharming are investigated on the basis of a comprehensive survey in 15 countries. Moreover, ethical and legal questions, posed by present and foreseeable future practices of pharming, are analysed. The concluding chapter presents the authors’ main findings and recommendations, addressed to science, industry, politics and general public interested in the chances and risks of this upcoming field of biotechnology.

Recent scientific advances have made it possible to produce biopharmaceuticals in genetically modified plants and animals, such as maize, tobacco, goats, and chickens. This new branch of biotechnology is termed pharming, composed of the terms pharmaceuticals and farming. Pharming constitutes an overlap of red and green biotechnology. It offers the prospect of a quicker, cheaper, and more flexible production of biopharmaceuticals compared with current production processes. This is a promising perspective in light of the rapidly growing market of biopharmaceuticals, although the economic competitiveness of pharming remains to be proven. Besides possible benefits for producers, patients and health care systems, pharming also raises a number of complex ecological, social, moral and legal questions that have as yet not been thoroughly discussed. The present book contains the findings of an interdisciplinary research project that has addressed a large range of questions associated with pharming: An analysis of the state-of-the-art of plant pharming and animal pharming technologies is followed by an assessment of environmental risks related to pharming and welfare risks for pharming animals. Public views and attitudes to pharming are investigated on the basis of a comprehensive survey in 15 countries. Moreover, ethical and legal questions, posed by present and foreseeable future practices of pharming, are analysed. The concluding chapter presents the authors’ main findings and recommendations, addressed to science, industry, politics and general public interested in the chances and risks of this upcoming field of biotechnology.

A single volume collection that surveys the exciting field of plant-made pharmaceuticals and industrial proteins This comprehensive book communicates the recent advances and exciting potential for the expanding area of plant biotechnology and is divided into six sections. The first three sections look at the current status of the field, and advances in plant platforms and strategies for improving yields, downstream processing, and controlling post-translational modifications of plant-made recombinant proteins. Section four reviews high-value industrial and pharmacological proteins that are successfully being produced in established and emerging plant platforms. The fifth section looks at regulatory challenges facing the expansion of the field. The final section turns its focus toward small molecule therapeutics, drug screening, plant specialized metabolites, and plants as model organisms to study human disease processes. Molecular Pharming: Applications, Challenges and Emerging Areas offers in-depth coverage of molecular biology of plant expression systems and manipulation of glycosylation processes in plants; plant platforms, subcellular targeting, recovery, and downstream processing; plant-derived protein pharmaceuticals and case studies; regulatory issues; and emerging areas. It is a valuable resource for researchers that are in the field of plant molecular pharming, as well as for those conducting basic research in gene expression, protein quality control, and other subjects relevant to molecular and cellular biology. Broad ranging coverage of a key area of plant biotechnologyDescribes efforts to produce pharmaceutical and industrial proteins in plantsProvides reviews of recent advances and technology breakthroughsAssesses realities of regulatory and cost hurdlesForward looking with coverage of small molecule technologies and the use of plants as models of human disease processes Providing wide-ranging and unique coverage, Molecular Pharming: Applications, Challenges and Emerging Areas will be of great interest to the plant science, plant biotechnology, protein science, and pharmacological communities.

The advent of large-scale production and clinical trials of drugs developed through diverse production routes - involving viruses, microbes, plants, and animals - has increased the demand for an expanded capacity for pharmaceutical manufacturing. The production and purification of expressed proteins accounts for the bulk of the manufacturing costs for new therapeutics. Several pharmaceutical proteins have been synthesized by exploiting plant genetics allowing producers to override conventional approaches used to manufacture pharmaceuticals. The process of inserting a gene into a host organism for the purpose of harvesting a bioactive molecule for therapeutic use is known as molecular pharming. Frontiers in Molecular Pharming covers an array of topics relevant to understanding the structure, function, regulation, and mechanisms of action, biochemical significance, and usage of proteins and peptides as biomarkers, therapeutics, and vaccines for animals and humans. The contributions aim to highlight current progress in three areas, including system biology (in vivo characterization of proteins and peptides), molecular pharming for animals and molecular pharming for humans. The book gives special attention to computational biology tools, production platforms and fields (such as immunoinformatics) and applications of molecular pharming (such as veterinary therapeutics). A balance of theoretical concepts and practical applications is provided through 13 chapters.Frontiers in Molecular Pharming is an invaluable resource for students and researchers of biochemistry, molecular biology, and biotechnology. The book also serves as a springboard for understanding the process of how discoveries in protein and peptide research and its applications are coming to fruition.