Vaccines and antibodies play a key role in health care. However, each year, infectious diseases kill about 17 million people worldwide. Approximately, 80% of the world's children are capable to receive vaccines against infectious diseases and 20 % still remain unvaccinated which leads to about 2 million children of the world potentially avoidable death each year. This problem is especially prevalent in the developing countries and in the remote parts of the world. Various reasons are involved in affecting the efficient distribution and utilization of the vaccines. Expression of the pathogens in transgenic plants is a convenient and inexpensive source for these immunotherapeutic molecules. Various antigens have already been expressed successfully in plants. Edible plant vaccines against diarrhea expressed in potato is already in preclinical human trials. Attempts are being made to express many proteins of immunotherapeutic use at high level in plants and to use them as bioreactors of modern era.

Vaccines and antibodies play a key role in health care. However, each year, infectious diseases kill about 17 million people worldwide. Approximately, 80% of the world's children are capable to receive vaccines against infectious diseases and 20 % still remain unvaccinated which leads to about 2 million children of the world potentially avoidable death each year. This problem is especially prevalent in the developing countries and in the remote parts of the world. Various reasons are involved in affecting the efficient distribution and utilization of the vaccines. Expression of the pathogens in transgenic plants is a convenient and inexpensive source for these immunotherapeutic molecules. Various antigens have already been expressed successfully in plants. Edible plant vaccines against diarrhea expressed in potato is already in preclinical human trials. Attempts are being made to express many proteins of immunotherapeutic use at high level in plants and to use them as bioreactors of modern era.