Blood from plant
Biotechnology and genetic engineering are revolutionising the biological sciences. A research at Pacific Northwest Laboratory of Department of Energy has identified a method to produce human blood components from plants. This new method is cheaper and is less risky than the current method. In this method the tobacco plants were modified to produce human blood. Some specified genes from human were transplanted into the tobacco plants. The result of this transplantation produced substances like thrombin, factor XII and coagulation factor VIII. These blood factors are normally produced by blood plasma or through cultivation of certain types of mammal cells. These procedures are very risky compared to the method of producing blood from plants. The spreading of diseases that may go undetected in human plasma method can be prevented by producing blood components using plants. This method is ten to eight times cheaper than the current method of production of blood. As the bloods are produced from the tobacco plant the source is stable over time. Also the purified amount of substance is high in blood produced from plants.