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Premature mortality from preventable causes, including maternal and infant deaths, remains a significant global health issue. In this Insight, we explore how advances in plant biotechnology can assist with meeting United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Number 3: "Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages"
In more detail, UN SDG #3 seeks to reduce global maternal and neonatal mortality rates, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years, and reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases. It is also a goal to end various epidemics, including AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
Production of food with health benefits
The central role of plants in production of food substances offers opportunities to engineer plants that can provide for foods having a range of health benefits, including for mothers and infants.
Micronutrient deficiencies contribute to maternal and infant health issues. Engineering of plants to biofortify them with important nutrients and vitamins can provide an effective solution, avoiding a need for separate supplements. Thus, various staple crops have been engineered to have increased levels of key substances. For example, iron-rich beans and zinc-enriched wheat have been developed, which can address micronutrient deficiencies linked to complications in pregnancy and childbirth, such as maternal anaemia. Golden rice and other vitamin A-enriched crops can also reduce childhood blindness and mortality linked to vitamin A deficiency. Crops such as maize and wheat have also been engineered to enhance folate levels.
In other applications, bioengineered plants have been used to produce functional foods. For example, high-anthocyanin tomatoes and omega-3-enriched oilseeds can help prevent cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. Crops engineered to be low-allergen, such as hypoallergenic peanuts, also reduce risks of severe allergic reactions. Crops engineered for reduced contamination by mycotoxins harmful to human health, including aflatoxin-resistant maize, also improve food safety.
Bioproduction of medicines in plants
Plants offer low-cost production platforms for medicines, including vaccines, and may also provide supply chain benefits. Thus, they have potential to assist with meeting targets of accessibility and affordability and control of communicable diseases provided in UN SDG #3.
Transgenic crops expressing vaccine antigens for diseases such as cholera, dengue or schistosomiasis have been described. Production of vaccine antigens in plants compared to traditional cell systems can reduce costs. In particular, when expressed in edible parts of plants, vaccines may not require purification. Expensive fermentation facilities are also not required. Edible vaccines, for example produced in engineered bananas or tomatoes, can also be orally administered and avoid requirements for needles or cold chains.
Bioproduction in plants has also been shown to be a rapid and highly scalable approach permitting speedy response to outbreaks and emerging diseases. Local crop-based manufacturing can also reduce reliance on imports for access to medicines. Nicotinia (tobacco) plants have been used for COVID-19 vaccine development, and also for production of therapeutic antibody treatments against Ebola virus.
Engineering of plants to meet specific health needs
Engineered plants have also been used to address a variety of other specific health needs set out in UN SDG #3. Plant-based oral rehydration solutions, made from plants engineered to produce rehydration salts or probiotics, can be used to treat or prevent dehydration and help manage associated diseases. Diarrhoeal diseases are a major killer of young children in the developing world. Plants have also been engineered to produce non-addictive painkillers or therapeutic cannabinoids as a strategy to reduce substance abuse. Genetically enhanced plants able to remove heavy metal and toxins from soil and water (so-called phytoremediation) can limit risks to human health from exposure to hazardous substances in the environment. Experimental production of contraceptive hormones in plants is also being explored, which could reduce costs and improve access to contraceptives, assisting family planning.
Plants themselves also naturally produce useful medicinal products relevant to the goals of UN SDG. In particular, UN SDG #3 includes a target of ending epidemics of malaria. Artemisinin, a potent antimalarial drug, is produced in the plantArtemisis annua(sweet wormwood), but only at very low levels. Various methods are being used to increase artemesinin production in plants, including breeding to develop higher-yielding cultivars, and genetic engineering to enhance biosynthetic pathways.
How J A Kemp can help
For businesses and researchers pioneering advancements in plant biotechnology, robust IP strategies are key to maximising innovation, investment and impact. However, as discussed in detail in our Technical Briefing on Patenting Plants in Europe and the UK, patenting of plant biotechnology inventions presents challenges. We have several experts working in this area and are uniquely placed to advise on overcoming these challenges.
Our plant biotechnology insight series
In a series of insights, J A Kemp's Plant and Crop Science team will be exploring how plant biotechnology can drive progress towards achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) – a global framework aimed at creating a more sustainable and equitable future for all.
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