Rainer Fischer & Stefan Schillberg 
Molecular Farming 
Plant-made Pharmaceuticals and Technical Proteins

Here, authors from academia and industry provide an exciting overview of current production technologies and the fascinating possibilities for future applications. Topics include chloroplast-derived antibodies, biopharmaceuticals and edible vaccines, production of antibodies in plants and plant cell suspension cultures, production of spider silk proteins in plants, and glycosylation of plant produced proteins. The whole is rounded off by chapters on the demands and expectations made on molecular farming by pharmaceutical corporations and the choice of crop species in improving recombinant protein levels.
Of interest to biotechnologists, gene technologists, molecular biologists and protein biochemists in university as well as the biotechnological and pharmaceutical industries.

Table of Content

INTRODUCTION

PLANT PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES
Perennial plants as a production system for pharmaceuticals
Foreign protein expression using hairy roots and plant suspension cultures
Production of recombinant proteins in germinating seeds
Viral expression vectors
Field trials
Chloroplast derived antibodies, biopharmaceuticals and edible vaccines
s Ig A production in plants
Antibodies in plants and plant cell suspension cultures


Production of spider silk proteins in plants
Glycosylation of plant produced proteins
The precautionary approach to tackle the wicked problems
Requirements and expectations of Molecular Farming from the view of big pharma
Choice of crop species and improving recombinant protein levels
Gene farming in pea under field conditions: Seed specific synthesis of a bacterial exoenzyme

About the author

Prof. Dr. Rainer Fischer, 45, currently Department Head of the Institute for Molecular Biotechnology (RWTH Aachen, Germany, 80 employees) and Senior Executive Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (170 employees). His research covers many areas of Molecular Biotechnology including Genomics, Proteomics, Cellomics, Protein Engineering, Molecular Medicine, Immunology, Virology, Plant Biotechnology, as well as the Production and Purification of Recombinant Proteins.
Within the last 15 years Prof. Dr. Rainer Fischer published over 90 research articles in leading international journals, 35 book chapters and established a strong global academic and industrial network. He is also well known within the scientific arenas for his international scientific talks, is on the editorial board of two highly ranked scientific journals and is reviewer for more than 20 journals. He has filed over 25 different patent applications and successfully secured more than 100 million Euros in financial support. Prof. Fischer serves as reviewer for multiple national and international grant agencies (EC, NATO and NSF), he is an adviser for four international Biotech companies and an active board member for two start-up companies.