Transgene Biocontainment Strategies for Molecular Farming
Advances in plant synthetic biology promise to introduce novel agricultural products in the near future. ‘Molecular farms’ will include crops engineered to produce medications, vaccines, biofuels, industrial enzymes, and other high value compounds. These crops have the potential to reduce costs whil...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-03-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpls.2020.00210/full |
| _version_ | 1828385992551170048 |
|---|---|
| author | Michael Clark Maciej Maselko Maciej Maselko Maciej Maselko |
| author_facet | Michael Clark Maciej Maselko Maciej Maselko Maciej Maselko |
| author_sort | Michael Clark |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Advances in plant synthetic biology promise to introduce novel agricultural products in the near future. ‘Molecular farms’ will include crops engineered to produce medications, vaccines, biofuels, industrial enzymes, and other high value compounds. These crops have the potential to reduce costs while dramatically increasing scales of synthesis and provide new economic opportunities to farmers. Current transgenic crops may be considered safe given their long-standing use, however, some applications of molecular farming may pose risks to human health and the environment. Unwanted gene flow from engineered crops could potentially contaminate the food supply, and affect wildlife. There is also potential for unwanted gene flow into engineered crops which may alter their ability to produce compounds of interest. Here, we briefly discuss the applications of molecular farming and explore the various genetic and physical methods that can be used for transgene biocontainment. As yet, no technology can be applied to all crop species, such that a combination of approaches may be necessary. Effective biocontainment is needed to enable large scale molecular farming. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T05:29:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f9aa90496cb0477cb8a2e868a0fef071 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-462X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T05:29:27Z |
| publishDate | 2020-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-f9aa90496cb0477cb8a2e868a0fef0712022-12-22T02:00:36ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2020-03-011110.3389/fpls.2020.00210517386Transgene Biocontainment Strategies for Molecular FarmingMichael Clark0Maciej Maselko1Maciej Maselko2Maciej Maselko3Applied Biosciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, AustraliaApplied Biosciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, AustraliaCSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Canberra, ACT, AustraliaCSIRO Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaAdvances in plant synthetic biology promise to introduce novel agricultural products in the near future. ‘Molecular farms’ will include crops engineered to produce medications, vaccines, biofuels, industrial enzymes, and other high value compounds. These crops have the potential to reduce costs while dramatically increasing scales of synthesis and provide new economic opportunities to farmers. Current transgenic crops may be considered safe given their long-standing use, however, some applications of molecular farming may pose risks to human health and the environment. Unwanted gene flow from engineered crops could potentially contaminate the food supply, and affect wildlife. There is also potential for unwanted gene flow into engineered crops which may alter their ability to produce compounds of interest. Here, we briefly discuss the applications of molecular farming and explore the various genetic and physical methods that can be used for transgene biocontainment. As yet, no technology can be applied to all crop species, such that a combination of approaches may be necessary. Effective biocontainment is needed to enable large scale molecular farming.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpls.2020.00210/fullbiocontainmentmolecular farmingpharmaceuticalsplant synthetic biologymetabolic engineeringtransgene |
| spellingShingle | Michael Clark Maciej Maselko Maciej Maselko Maciej Maselko Transgene Biocontainment Strategies for Molecular Farming Frontiers in Plant Science biocontainment molecular farming pharmaceuticals plant synthetic biology metabolic engineering transgene |
| title | Transgene Biocontainment Strategies for Molecular Farming |
| title_full | Transgene Biocontainment Strategies for Molecular Farming |
| title_fullStr | Transgene Biocontainment Strategies for Molecular Farming |
| title_full_unstemmed | Transgene Biocontainment Strategies for Molecular Farming |
| title_short | Transgene Biocontainment Strategies for Molecular Farming |
| title_sort | transgene biocontainment strategies for molecular farming |
| topic | biocontainment molecular farming pharmaceuticals plant synthetic biology metabolic engineering transgene |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpls.2020.00210/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michaelclark transgenebiocontainmentstrategiesformolecularfarming AT maciejmaselko transgenebiocontainmentstrategiesformolecularfarming AT maciejmaselko transgenebiocontainmentstrategiesformolecularfarming AT maciejmaselko transgenebiocontainmentstrategiesformolecularfarming |