Tobacco-Derived IL-37
April 30, 2019 | Terry Sharrer
It’s not surprising farmers have paid attention to “raising” pharmaceutical proteins in transgenic tobacco for at least 20 years. “Pharming” interleukins, insulin, interferon, et al offers a gold rush much greater than gold itself. The question has been whether or not a plant folds a mammalian protein in the same shape as that from a pig or person, and that has been elusive. Now, researchers at Western University (London, Ontario) claim they have produced interleukin 37 in transgenic tobacco. So far, this has not been clinically tested; so we’ll have to wait for the trials. It’s worth noting at Sir Frederick Banting, discoverer of insulin in 1920, worked at Western University. MORE
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