Potatoes and Vaccine

Potatoes fight Hepatitis The past couple of years I have told you about several scientists that are working to develop an edible Hepatitis B Vaccine. Well that process has graduated from the lab to actual human testing and the results are pretty encouraging. In our affluent society we are isolated from diseases like Hepatitis; in fact in the U.S. most of our children receive three Hepatitis B vaccines from birth to 18 months making it difficult for us to understand the value of an edible vaccine when injections are so readily available. It is a different story in third world countries; they lack either the funds or the ability to store the vaccine which requires refrigeration. For these people Hepatitis B becomes a life or death matter, often resulting in liver cancer. So, 42 volunteers who had already been vaccinated against Hepatitis B were fed raw potatoes genetically modified to carry the gene for the Hepatitis antigen. Remarkably 60 percent of the volunteers, showed a strong antibody response. It is exciting to think that a commodity as universal and affordable as a potato will be used by the medical community to save millions of lives worldwide. I'm Susan Allen and this is Food Forethought. Source: Fox New.com 02/15/05 National Academy of Science