Disease in Third World Countries: Disease in Third World Countries How Biotechnology can Help


Disease is rampant in developing nations…………: Disease is rampant in developing nations………… In 2001, five hundred eighty seven thousand people throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia died of measles, a disease virtually non-existent in developed nations (1) About 4,500 children in developing nations die each day because of diarrhea related to unsanitary water conditions (2) Nearly 1.5 million children worldwide are blind due to simple Vitamin A deficiency (3) But all these diseases are easily preventable! www.peacemala.org.uk/news/onelife/onelife.html


But How?: But How? The scientific field of Biotechnology offers many techniques to help prevent common diseases that scourge developing nations www.kwiheed.org


Many of these techniques are already available to the general public!: Many of these techniques are already available to the general public! Traditional Vaccines Genetically Modified food products And a very promising techniques that is being worked on: Edible Vaccines


The Best Offense is a Good Defense: The Best Offense is a Good Defense This is certainly true when it comes to immunization. A long time ago, a man named Edward Jenner noticed that milkmaids that were exposed to the animal disease cowpox seemed to be unable to acquire the often lethal disease smallpox. He hypothesized that catching and recovering from an illness prevents one from catching it again http://www.tlarson.com/gallery/cows.jpg


Slide6: Exposure to either a dead or a similar form of a virus creates specific antibodies that stay with a person forever, making that person immune to a particular disease. This method is already used to prevent dangerous diseases such as hepatitis and pertussis, and has eradicated smallpox.


However, you don’t have to shoot yourself full of dead disease causing organisms: However, you don’t have to shoot yourself full of dead disease causing organisms Other types of vaccinations are: Acellular vaccines In which only certain proteins are inserted Attenuated vaccines In which a virus is aged or it’s growth conditions are changed www.nemed.com/needles.htm


Beyond Traditional Vaccines: Beyond Traditional Vaccines But who wants a shot in the arm? Traditional Vaccines are very impractical in developing nations because of the cost of producing and maintaining them. How can an important vaccine be administered in places without trained staff or refrigeration?


EDIBLE VACCINES: THE WAY OF THE FUTURE: EDIBLE VACCINES: THE WAY OF THE FUTURE Edible vaccines grown in plants such as potatoes or bananas would be very stable during shipment to developing nations and would not require refrigeration, needles, or trained staff. Also, whereas vaccines using needles only trigger systematic immune response, edible vaccines trigger the mucosal (4) response as well, making populations without easy access to medicine even less susceptible to disease.


Manufacturing Edible Vaccines: Manufacturing Edible Vaccines Edible vaccines using transgenic plants would be ideal. To do this, genes for certain proteins expressed by disease causing microorganisms would be inserted into plant embryos using a gene gun and the successful grown plants that expressed them would be bred and tested for causing immunity. If approved for safe use, these vaccines would be sent to areas in need.


Unfortunately: Unfortunately Due to the variability of size in plants, one cannot just eat a potato and know that they have the right amount of synthesized protein to cause immunity. So although these transgenic plants can be grown in developing nations, people would have to be trained to make pills, puddings, and correct sized pieces for consumption


Controversy: Controversy The main fear of using transgenic plants for vaccination is that the transgenic plants would contaminate the food crop. This is, indeed, a great concern. Careful regulation, isolation of transgenic plants used for vaccines, and buffer crops should help prevent this from happening. www.northdaysimage.ca/carnivora.html


As long as we’re talking about GM food. . .: As long as we’re talking about GM food. . . A few diseases (malnutrition being one) aren’t caused by microorganisms but by lack of certain vitamins and minerals. One of the most common of these is Vitamin A deficiency, the main cause of childhood blindness in developing nations. S www.goldenrice.org/Content3-Why/why1_vad.html


Golden Rice: Golden Rice One example of using GM foods to alleviate a devastating disorder is Golden Rice. Regular rice, a staple of many Asian nations, was transformed to produce beta-carotene in order to prevent Vitamin A deficiency. Golden rice 2 (left), golden rice 1 (top right) and normal rice (bottom right). http://www.scidev.net/Opinions/index.cfm?fuseaction=readOpinions&itemid=380&language=1


Smokable Vaccines?: Smokable Vaccines? We all know that tobacco is an easy plant to both grow and manipulate. We also know that cigarettes are very good at transmitting harmful substances straight to a person’s lungs. Is it possible that we can re-engineer tobacco for an enjoyable way to gain immunity?


Slide16: To test this idea, we would first have to make many copies of the genes that code for the correct proteins using PCR. Then, we would either A) insert these genes into tobacco embryos using a gene gun or B) Transform with Agrobacterium. The successful fully grown plants would then be bred together and manufactured into a smokable form. These long-lasting “magic wands” could then be stored and shipped anywhere in the world.


References: References 1) Vaccine Preventable Diseases Still Take Toll in the Developing World The World Bank http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:20879384~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html 2) LeMoyne, Roger Children and Water: Global Statistics UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/wes/index_31600.html 3) IEF Programs: Childhood Blindness http://iefusa.org/childhood.shtml 4) Guidice E, Campbell J. Needle Free Vaccine Delivery Science Direct via Pubmed Database http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T3R-4JJG9WH-1&_coverDate=04%2F20%2F2006&_alid=425420319&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_qd=1&_cdi=4953&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000059598&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=4421&md5=683706ec7af9a1340cb8ff593a635f05


Slide18: 5) Mason H, Ball J, Shi J, Jiang X, Estes M, Arntzen C Expression of Norwalk Virus Capsid Protein in Transgenic Tobacco and Potato and its Oral Immunogenicity in Mice PNAS via Pubmed 1996 http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/93/11/5335 6) Miller, Anna L., The History and Future of Vaccines American Methodist University http://people.smu.edu/amiller/ 7) Maybury Okonek B., Peters P. PhD. Vaccines – How and Why? Access Excellence Classic Collection http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/CC/vaccines_how_why.html [Anonymous] Enough to go Around? Why Files http://whyfiles.org/166plant_vaccines/ Washam, Cynthia Biotechnology Creating Edible Vaccines Annals of Internal Medicine 1997 http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/127/6/499 Webster D, Thomas M, Strugnell R, Dry I, Wesselingh S. Appetizing Solutions: An Edible Vaccine for Measles The Medical Journal of Australia 2002 http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/176_09_060502/web10753_fm.html