Edible Vaccines
Can Food Replace Injections?
When you think about vaccines, the first thing that comes to mind probably has something to do with needles and getting a yearly shot. For me, this is my mental image of vaccines. As I grew up in a family and community that embraced vaccination, I’ve always felt like it was a safe and effective way to protect against certain diseases. With that said, I was curious about other forms of vaccination. More specifically, I am currently enrolled in a course covering medicine and vaccines. The class requires that I choose my own topic to research for the semester project, so naturally, I chose a topic that shifts back to my own personal interests: food. This led to my discovery of edible vaccines.
For my research topic this semester, I plan to explore the development of edible vaccines. More specifically, I will investigate how food is being genetically modified to incorporate antigens into plant DNA and create an edible form of vaccination through food. When consumed, these GMO foods serve to activate an immune response, which is the biological first line of defense against pathogens in humans.¹ To put it simply, researchers are attempting to make food into a form of medicine protecting against certain viruses and diseases.
Before being tasked in finding a research topic centered around vaccines and vaccination, I’d never heard of the concept of edible vaccines. However, as I love anything related to nutrition research, I was fascinated by the intersection of food and medicine. Upon diving into the literature surrounding the innovation, this concept started to gain traction and attention around ten years ago. Since its initial phases, it has been applied to public health issues such as COVID-19 in attempts to create edible vaccinations for certain pandemic diseases.² The research further notes that pursuing an edible vaccination for COVID-19 could have compounding benefits as there is evidence of cross resistance between measles, mumps, and rubella and SARS-coV-2.³ In other words, protecting against COVID-19 with this innovation could help to protect against other diseases.
Edible vaccines have not only been used as a potential tool to fight against pandemic disease, but as a way to mass distribute vaccines to developing countries and populations with limited access to vaccines. Vaccine distribution to developing countries tends to face several challenges such as high cost of production, shipping and maintenance logistics, and administration of the vaccine. Edible vaccines would help to address these issues by providing an orally administered vaccine that has low risk for contamination and is heat stable.⁴ Considering that edible vaccines would be created through the modification of plant DNA, they could then be grown within the developing regions and accessible to a wider population. High yield and common plants such as rice, bananas, potatoes, lettuce, and tomatoes can be used as vessels for the edible vaccination initiative.⁵
However, while the idea of edible vaccines is promising, there are several setbacks that have hindered the widespread adoption. Firstly, one drawback to edible vaccines is that they are not fully understood in their efficacy. In order to receive the proper dosage of antigens, researchers need to determine how to overcome consequences of immune tolerance to the effects of edible vaccines.⁶ How much of a plant would a person need to consume to achieve the correct immune system response? Would there be compounding effects of increased consumption of this food? Is it logistical to simply increase the production and intake of the modified foods utilized for the edible vaccine? Another issue that poses a challenge to edible vaccines is the public perception of genetically modified organisms. In the US, there is a general concern and potential villainization of GMOs.⁷
Overall, while edible vaccines are a fairly new development, they hold incredible potential to improve global public health. Throughout this semester, I will continue to research this topic and discover more about edible vaccines. Information will be made available here and within the food news library, so stay tuned for updates!
References
Ogodo, A. C., Sabo, I. A., & Eze, E. O. (2022). Microorganisms as potential source of drug for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19): Antimicrobial drugs-ivermectin, azithromycin. In C. Egbuna (Ed.), Drug discovery update: Coronavirus drug discovery (p. 175). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-95574-4.00019-6
Ogodo, A. C., Sabo, I. A., & Eze, E. O. (2022). Microorganisms as potential source of drug for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19): Antimicrobial drugs-ivermectin, azithromycin. In C. Egbuna (Ed.), Drug discovery update: Coronavirus drug discovery (pp. 171–189). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-95574-4.00019-6
Ogodo, A. C., Sabo, I. A., & Eze, E. O. (2022). Microorganisms as potential source of drug for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19): Antimicrobial drugs-ivermectin, azithromycin. In C. Egbuna (Ed.), Drug discovery update: Coronavirus drug discovery (p. 176). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-95574-4.00019-6
Sahai, A., Shahzad, A., & Shahid, M. (2013). Plant edible vaccines: A revolution in vaccination. In Recent trends in biotechnology and therapeutic applications of medicinal plants (pp. 225–252). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6603-7_10
Kurup, V. M., & Thomas, J. (2019). Edible vaccines: Promises and challenges. Molecular Biotechnology, 62(2), 79–90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12033-019-00222-1
Silin, D. S., & Lyubomska, O. V. (2002). Overcoming immune tolerance during oral vaccination against Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae. Journal of Veterinary Medicine, Series B, 49(4), 169–175. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1439-0450.2002.00546.x
Kurup, V. M., & Thomas, J. (2019). Edible vaccines: Promises and challenges. Molecular Biotechnology, 62(2), 79–90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12033-019-00222-1
