Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 7638 / SEEDWORLD.COM SEPTEMBER 2016 ALTHOUGH THE POLIO virus has been eradicated in most places around the globe thanks to effective vac- cines, it’s still a reality for people in some parts of the Middle East. Afghanistan and Pakistan remain polio-endemic, accord- ing to the World Health Organization (WHO), and that means that as long as polio is present on the planet, the poten- tial for more outbreaks is always real. Seventy-four cases of polio were reported in 2015. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis. Among those paralyzed, 5 to 10 percent die when their breathing muscles become immo- bilized. Children under 5 years of age are the ones mainly affected. There are two vaccines available, but both have their drawbacks and one is being phased-out this year upon the recommendation of the WHO, meaning a new vaccine solution is desperately needed in order to save lives and hope- fully eliminate the virus once and for all. That solution is being found in what some might consider a very unlikely place. Plants are coming to the rescue in the latest attempt to create a new polio vaccine. With a new study led by Henry Daniell, a professor of biochemistry in the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, researchers are using Daniell’s plant-based vaccine production platform — in which lettuce incorporates a gene of interest into its DNA and then produces the associated protein in its leaves — to develop the booster for polio. The research is funded with sup- port from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Daniell and his team are targeting viral protein 1, or VP1, which is present on all three serotypes of the polio virus. After confirming that they could stably pro- Lettuce plants might help eradicate the polio virus, which is still causing death and disability in some parts of the world. Marc Zienkiewicz, Katherine Unger Baillie and Geraldine Platten Plants Join Fight Against Polio An Afghan health worker administers the polio vaccine to a child in Kabul, Afghanistan. Afghanistan is one of two countries in the world that still has a polio problem with new cases reported every year. duce the protein in lettuce plants, they fed the VP1-containing plant material to mice that had been primed with the inac- tive vaccine. It was successful in creating immunity to the virus. “Our vaccine research has the poten- tial to provide a timely solution to deal with polio outbreaks around the globe,” Daniell says. Vaccine Woes Two vaccines for polio are currently used throughout the world. Oral polio vaccine (OPV), which is the one being phased- out, uses live virus and is cost effective to produce, but doesn’t prevent the virus from being shed through bodily waste and possibly passed on to others — a particular problem in countries where sanitation is a major concern. Inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) is safer, but costs more to produce. Because it