Harvesting blood proteins from grain.

A multidisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Ottawa has expressed a human blood protein, granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor, in tobacco seeds as part of a series of experiments whose ultimate goal is to express human blood proteins in cereal crops. Success in these experiments may lead to the development of a new, relatively inexpensive and ready supply of these proteins from a biologic source that is generally recognized as safe. The team is also studying the possibility of expressing in seeds proteins that may be used as vaccines against infectious diseases.