TOBACCO has had a bad rap but as things work out during this pandemic, it may just be a lifesaver in the fight against COVID-19.
They may be the easiest and safest way to mass-produce the vaccines we are now pining for. You say, No way, but scientists say, it’s OK. Welcome to the world of pharming. In case you didn’t know, vaccines are typically produced using mammal, bacteria and yeast cell cultures in bioreactors.
But now, it has been shown that plants can act as bioreactors. Because of biotechnology, it has become possible to modify plants to grow important compounds like vaccines. This is known as pharming. For decades, vaccine makers used eggs with the modified genetic material from a virus inserted into the egg’s proteins. But this procedure means each egg must be modified individually and, in cases like the COVID-19 outbreak where time is crucial, it would often be too late.
In pharming, plants are used to produce vaccines. Some biomedical companies like Kentucky Bioprocessing (KBP) and Medicago have partnered with tobacco companies in pursuing plant-based vaccines for COVID-19. They already have had successes with HIV vaccine and ebola. They have also started human trials for their COVID-19 vaccines.
One tobacco company is about to produce three million doses of a possible coronavirus vaccine using tobacco. And as it turns out, tobacco plants are commonly used in pharming. In fact, Nicotiana tabacum and its relative, Nicotiana benthamiana, are known as the lab mice of pharming.
They are easy to grow and have big leaves necessary for pharming. And they are widely available. Although the cultivation of tobacco in the Philippines has gone down, it is still a major cash crop, especially in Northern Luzon.
Virginia tobacco, the most dominant type in the country, accounts for 58 percent of the tobacco area, or about 23.35 hectares, mostly in Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Abra, and La Union. Burley is grown in Ilocos region as well as in Abra, Cagayan Valley, Tarlac, and Occidental Mindoro. The native or dark tobacco is grown almost anywhere in the rest of the country while Turkish or aromatic tobacco is planted in limited areas in Cagayan Valley.
Pharming will give countries like the Philippines with a relatively robust tobacco industry to also compete in the vaccine production industry. Brazil and South Africa are already into pharming. There is no stopping Philippines to be at par with them.