Pharming (genetics)

Pharming is a merger of "farming" and "pharmaceutical" and refers to the use of genetic engineering to insert genes that code for useful pharmaceuticals into host animals or plants that would not otherwise express those genes. As a consequence, the host animals or plants then make the pharmaceutical product in large quantity, which can then be purified and used as a drug product. Expression in the milk of a mammal, such as a cow or goat, is a common application, as milk production is plentiful and purification from milk is relatively easy. Scientists also hope to eventually be able to deliver the drug product directly by eating the plant or drinking the milk. A variant on this idea would be to express a nutrient rather than a drug, such as making milk that already had the vitamin D in it. Some links to more detailed reports are provided below.

See also

• The Internet community has appropriated the term pharming to refer to a form of security vulnerability.

External links

• Pharming for Farmaceuticals
• PHARMING THE FIELD: A Look at the Benefits and Risks of Bioengineering Plants to Produce Pharmaceuticals