Safety Measures employed in live forms associated with molecular farming in genetically modified plants
Keywords:
Biopharming, biosafety,, confinement, containment,, genetically modified organism, plant molecular farming, plant-made industrials,, plant-made pharmaceuticals.Abstract
The production in genetically modified plants of recombinant proteins for pharmaceutical or industrial
use, also referred to as "plant molecular farming", deserves increasing interest due to its potential
advantages. However, this type of application of genetic engineering also raises some biosafety
concerns, in particular regarding aspects such as transgene spread in the environment or accidental
contamination of the food and feed chains. This review presents the current state of the art of this sector,
discusses some relevant regulatory issues and outlines important scientific aspects that should be
considered during the safety assessment of genetically modified plants grown for this purpose. In
particular, it addresses general strategies as well as specific potential containment measures that could
be applied to limit the potential environmental and human health impacts linked to plant molecular
farming.
