Biopharming

At TCS Daily, Dr. Henry Miller has a piece on biopharming and the effects of over-regulation on this promising scientific industry. Biopharming, for those of you who, like me, had never heard of the term, is "the programming of plants to produce pharmaceuticals that can be purified, or that might even be delivered by eating the plant material itself." He describes one woman's efforts to introduce genes into bananas so that they essentially "grow" vaccines for typhoid fever, rabies and the HIV virus. She's trying to make vaccine that's deliverable by banana chip. It's a fascinating article, that looks at the possibilities for amazing medical advances, the potential risks and abuses of the field, and the roadblocks to further progress. Have a look. It's educational.