A small technology venture, called Applied Biotechnology Institute (ABI) in San Luis Obispo, CA, a lovely small city along the Central Coast of California, has developed a method to genetically modify corn to produce medically useful proteins. They are focused on specialized enzymes, sweeteners, and vaccines.
According to the World Health Organization, nearly 800,000 individuals die each year worldwide as a result of hepatitis B, an infectious virus that afflicts the liver. A safe and effective vaccine has been available since 1982 and is typically administered via three intramuscular injections over a period of about six months. The vaccine is recommended for babies, children and adults.
ABI has developed a fascinating method to incorporate the antigens for hepatitis B (not the virus itself, just some of the protein antigens that induce an immunological response) by inserting the genes for these proteins into the corn. When the corn matures, the corn’s seed germ–that is, the part of the corn seed that germinates into a new plant, not the other use of the word germ, infectious diseases like bacteria or viruses–is isolated from the rest of the seed.
The hepatitis B antigens are in the seed’s germ, and that is ground up. The antigens are then extracted and processed into a wafer that can be consumed orally to give a booster effect to those who have had the vaccine many years in the past. This wafer is heat resistant, and can be easily and cheaply transported to any number of locations. No syringes. No needles. No refrigerators. It is nearly nirvana for vaccination, at least for hepatitis B.
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Think about it. A cheap, effective, easy to use, easy to store, easy to transport vaccine that can help save 800,000 lives worldwide. Who would be opposed to that?
Unfortunately, individuals who are ignorant about the science of GMO’s rely on every single logical fallacy and myth to get terribly concerned about ABI’s research.
Read full, original article: Vaccines from GMO corn – science deniers everywhere faint
