Potatoes genetically modified to carry a hepatitis B vaccine protected about 60 percent of those who ate them in a study, researchers reported recently in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Current HBV vaccines must be kept refrigerated, an added expense researchers hope to avoid by developing the potatoes into a cheap oral vaccine that does not need refrigeration.

In the study, over 60 percent of 42 previously HBV-vaccinated volunteers gained HBV antibodies by eating three portions of the raw, genetically modified potatoes. Over half those who ate two portions developed increased HBV antibodies. About 40 percent of volunteers did not develop more antibodies, but researchers noted that commercially available shots do not always produce an immune response, either.

"There is an urgent need to make oral vaccines available in poorer countries of the world where infectious diseases are still the primary cause of death," said Yasmin Thanavala, a lead author and immunologist with the New York-based Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

The full report, "Immunogenicity in Humans of an Edible Vaccine for Hepatitis B," appeared in the online Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (doi10.1073/pnas.0409899102).

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