TY - JOUR
T1 - Ethics, biotechnology, and global health
T2 - The development of vaccines in transgenic plants
AU - Robert, Jason
AU - Kirk, Dwayne
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank Dr. Joan McGregor (Arizona State University) for stimulating conversation during the formative stages of this paper. We also thank two anonymous referees for helpful comments. Plant-made vaccine research by DDK is funded in part by Dow Agro Sciences LLC. ■
PY - 2006/8/1
Y1 - 2006/8/1
N2 - As compared with conventional vaccine production systems, plant-made vaccines (PMVs) are said to enjoy a range of advantages including cost of production and ease of storage for distribution in developing countries. In this article, we introduce the science of PMV production, and address ethical issues associated with development and clinical testing of PMVs within three interrelated domains: PMVs as transgenic plants; PMVs as clinical research materials; and PMVs as agents of global health. We present three conclusions: first, while many of the ethical issues raised by PMVs are familiar, PMVs add a new dimension to old issues, and raise some novel issues for ethicists and policy-makers; secondly, it is premature to promise broad applicability of PMVs across the developing world without having demonstrated their feasibility; thirdly, in particular, proponents of PMVs as a solution to global health problems must, as a condition of the ethical conduct of their research, define the commercial feasibility of PMVs for distribution in the developing world.
AB - As compared with conventional vaccine production systems, plant-made vaccines (PMVs) are said to enjoy a range of advantages including cost of production and ease of storage for distribution in developing countries. In this article, we introduce the science of PMV production, and address ethical issues associated with development and clinical testing of PMVs within three interrelated domains: PMVs as transgenic plants; PMVs as clinical research materials; and PMVs as agents of global health. We present three conclusions: first, while many of the ethical issues raised by PMVs are familiar, PMVs add a new dimension to old issues, and raise some novel issues for ethicists and policy-makers; secondly, it is premature to promise broad applicability of PMVs across the developing world without having demonstrated their feasibility; thirdly, in particular, proponents of PMVs as a solution to global health problems must, as a condition of the ethical conduct of their research, define the commercial feasibility of PMVs for distribution in the developing world.
KW - Bioethics
KW - Clinical testing
KW - Developing countries
KW - Genetic engineering
KW - Plant vaccines
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33746812555&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33746812555&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/15265160600843551
DO - 10.1080/15265160600843551
M3 - Review article
C2 - 16885087
AN - SCOPUS:33746812555
SN - 1526-5161
VL - 6
SP - W29-W41
JO - American Journal of Bioethics
JF - American Journal of Bioethics
IS - 4
ER -