§ John BarrettTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will list the sites in the UK which involve the experimental genetic engineering of plants to provide simple vaccinations; and which of these sites are in receipt of Government financial support. [63917]
§ Mr. MeacherThere are no trial sites of GM plants in the UK for the production of vaccines under the deliberate release regulations. However, my Department is funding one research project which seeks to produce transgenic plants that express GM antibodies, which will provide protection against E.coli 0157:H7 when ingested by livestock. If effective this would have the potential to reduce the level of E.coli 0157 in livestock and hence reduce the risk of zoonotic transmission. The total cost of this project over three years and nine months is £350k.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is not aware of any current programmes in the UK which involve the production of GM plants for use as vaccines. They are aware of preliminary research aimed at developing GM apples intended to protect against dental caries, which is being carried out by a dental hospital in collaboration with a horticultural research centre.
A number of centres in the UK are investigating the potential use of GM plant viruses as human or animal vaccines. These centres include the Scottish Crop Research Institute, the John Innes Centre, and Horticulture Research International. These projects which include using Cow Pea Mosaic Virus to deliver human or animal antigens, have been notified to HSE under the Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) Regulations 2000.