Molecular Pharming: Advances, Applications and Future Prospects

Abstract

Molecular pharming, also referred to as plant molecular farming or biopharming, is the use of genetically engineered plants, plant cells, tissues or organelles as biological production systems for high-value recombinant proteins and other useful biomolecules. During the last four decades, the field has progressed from proof-of-concept expression of foreign proteins in transgenic plants to sophisticated transient-expression platforms, chloroplast engineering, glycol-engineering, synthetic biology and targeted genome editing. These developments have improved expression levels, product quality and manufacturing flexibility. Molecular pharming is now relevant to therapeutic proteins, monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, industrial enzymes, diagnostics, nutraceuticals and functional foods. Plant systems provide several potential advantages, including scalable biomass production, comparatively low infrastructure requirements, rapid adaptation of transient systems and a reduced risk of contamination with many human pathogens. Important milestones include plant-derived glucocerebrosidase, recombinant antibodies, vaccine antigens and the development of plant-produced virus-like particle vaccines. Nevertheless, product yield, batch consistency, downstream purification, plant-specific post-translational modifications, containment, regulatory approval and public acceptance remain important barriers. This review summarizes the historical development, principles, production techniques, major applications, representative examples, advances available, limitations and future prospects of molecular pharming. The molecular pharming can now be considered as a complementary biomanufacturing platform that can provide rapid, flexible and potentially economical production of selected high-value products.