Plant genetic engineering, molecular farming and biosafety regulations in India

作者：Arun Kumar Maurya, Yogendra Prasad Saksena, Sheetal, Bharti Kaushik, K. K. Gaur, Swastika Banerjee, Tamanna Bachhawat, G. K. Kulkarni, Dwaipayan Sinha · 发表于：Plant Science Today · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.14719/pst.7530 · 研究领域：Genetically Modified Organisms Research、CRISPR and Genetic Engineering、Biotechnology and Related Fields

Molecular farming is a biotechnological approach that modifies plants or other organisms to produce desired and valuable products such as proteins, chemicals, or pharmaceuticals. These products are challenging to get or expensive to manufacture using classical biotechnological methods. The molecular production system primarily involves plants, animals and microorganisms such as algae, yeast and bacteria. The plants are often referred to as "bioreactors". Several biotechnological methods are applied, such as modifying plant-based expression systems involving nuclear or chloroplast genomes or enhancing plants' Heterologous Protein (HP) accumulation. The advantages of molecular farming are seen in their cost-effectiveness, scalability, faster production and safety. These bioreactors are known to produce antigen proteins used in vaccine development and nutraceuticals like omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins and nutritional benefits. The generated vaccines have become popular as edible vaccines. However, challenges and concerns associated with such products and methods as Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) having such potential are controversial, with concerns about environmental impact, safety and ethical issues. Also, molecular farming products are questioned for their yield, efficiency, purity and stability. This has led to the approval of only one non-food GM crop for cultivation in India despite several crops being ready to be launched. On the other hand, in terms of regulatory ...