Application of Transgenic Plants as Production Systems for Pharmaceuticals

Transgenic plants that produce foreign proteins or secondary metabolites with intrinsic industrial or pharmaceutical value represent a cost-effective alternative to fermentation- or organic synthesis-based production systems. There have been a number of recent demonstrations that transgenic plants are capable of producing functional foreign proteins, or that secondary metabolic pathways can be altered for the production of proteins or compounds of known or potential pharmaceutical importance. These examples portend many new and exciting possibilities in the ancient science of plant medicinal chemistry. Here we discuss current progress in the production of phamacologically important proteins and secondary metabolites in transgenic plants.