Vaccines have been one of the most effective methods of disease prevention for decades. Traditional vaccines, however, present a few obstacles: they need cold storage, skilled medical workers, and sterile needles. What if, instead of getting injected, you just ate your vaccine? That’s the ambitious idea behind edible vaccines, the subject of this scientific paper.
Edible vaccines involve inserting individual genes from viruses or bacteria into the DNA of everyday foods such as potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, rice, or lettuce. The plants, which have been genetically modified, then create small fragments of the disease-causing agent (antigens) in their tissues. Consumed raw or lightly cooked, the plants introduce your body to the antigen—educating your immune system to fight the real disease in the future, much like an ordinary vaccine.
The technology has tremendous potential for the developing world and rural communities, where vaccine delivery is usually restricted by cost, logistics, or infrastructure. Edible vaccines would do away with needles, syringes, and refrigeration—vaccination would be as simple as making a salad.
The article discusses developments in the utilization of such technology in preventing measles, hepatitis B, cholera, rabies, and even COVID-19. It provides updates on achievements in early trials in which certain plant-based vaccines induced successful immune reactions in animals and human beings.
Yet it’s not all plain sailing. Dosage is hard to control (how much banana does a dose constitute?), public acceptance of genetically modified food is uncertain, and regulatory approval pathways are murky. There is also potential for allergic response or environmental spread should the modified plants breed wild.
Nonetheless, the paper concludes that through additional research and careful development, edible vaccines can transform public health—particularly in regions where traditional vaccines cannot penetrate.
Full text: Baveesh Pudhuvai, Bhupendra Koul, Awdhesh Kumar Mishra, Insights into the world of edible vaccines: From lab to reality, Current Research in Biotechnology, Volume 9, 2025, 100290, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100290.