A group in the United States has taken the first steps towards creating a genetically modified (GM) potato, which can act as a vaccine against the virus that infects millions of people each year and threatens them with a potentially-fatal liver disease. At present, only the polio vaccine is given orally, using a weakened strain of the organism. If plants can be genetically modified to produce proteins which, when eaten, are absorbed into the body and activate the human immune system, the cost of making the vaccine and storing it can be reduced. Mice fed with the potato soon developed protective antibodies against the viral protein. Preliminary testing of this edible vaccine on human subjects has begun. If a potato strain which produces good tubers with sufficient levels of the viral protein can be developed, then the use of adjuvant can be avoided. Alternatively, the potato can be genetically modified to produce both the viral protein and the adjuvant.

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