Plant biotechnology is poised to enter its “third wave” — the
production of plant-made pharmaceuticals (PMP). Biotechnology
companies are developing genetically specialized crops designed
to produce feedstocks for vitamins, pharmaceuticals and perhaps
even vaccines. “Corn and tobacco have gotten the most attention
as potential green factories for producing medicines and
vaccines,” says Gene Stevens, crops production specialist at the
University of Missouri's Delta Center. “This, in effect, is an
industrial process with scrupulous controls and regulatory
oversight by at least three government agencies,” he adds. But
science has hit a couple of snags. Last fall, Nebraska-grown
soybeans were found contaminated with residue from volunteer
corn following a field trial of pharmaceutical corn. (See “The
Market That Never Was,” January issue, page 64.) Partly in
response the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) banned
the growing of PMP corn in Midwestern states. It relented in
December and will follow federal g