Edible vaccines are nothing but transgenic plant and animal based production of or those that contain agents that trigger an animal’s immune response. In simple terms, edible vaccines are plant or animal made pharmaceuticals. The earliest demonstration of an edible vaccine was the expression of a surface antigen from the bacterium Streptococcus mutans in tobacco. As this bacterium causes dental caries, it was envisaged that the stimulation of a mucosal immune response would prevent the bacteria from colonizing the teeth and therefore protect against tooth decay.
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IMMUNOLOGY