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Scientists at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia have grown tobacco plants producing cancer fighting chemicals called monoclonal antibodies, which latch onto tumors and kill them like heat-seeking missiles. They are hoping that tobacco plants may soon become "antibody factories" producing proteins pounding variety of cancers.
The vegetal medicine seems to work. Results from animal trials show that the harvested antibodies attacked human colorectal tumors grown on mice and halted their growth. "The antibody produced in tobacco is as good as the antibody produced in animal cells," said Hilary Koprowski, professor of microbiology and immunology at Jefferson. She said that tobacco-derived antibody should be safer and less expensive to produce than antibodies currently grown in mice. The school says it is now looking for industry partners to begin mass production.
This is not the first time Jefferson scientists used tobacco to grow medicine. In the past they harvested rabies-fighting antibodies, which stopped the disease in infected mice.
Koprowski is already moving ahead with more research, testing new kinds of tobacco-grown antigens on breast and lung tumor cells.