TASHKENT: Uzbek scientists have successfully developed TOMAVAC, an edible COVID-19 vaccine derived from common tomatoes, as reported by the Frontiers Research Journal. The process involved incorporating a fragment of the gene responsible for the S1 antigenic protein of the coronavirus into specialized vectors and integrating it into the genome of tomato cells. From these cells, a tomato plant capable of producing the S1 antigenic protein was cultivated, and its fruits were identified as the basis for the novel TOMAVAC vaccine.
This groundbreaking vaccine is said to offer dual-layered protection against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). After initial reports of a tomato-based vaccine surfaced in Uzbek media, rigorous testing on volunteers and animals took place at the Research Centre for Standardization of Medicinal Forms of the Pharmaceutical Institute in Tashkent. The study received approval from the institutional ethics board of the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics.
Regarded as the world’s first edible COVID-19 vaccine, TOMAVAC’s development has been ongoing since January 2021. Turkiye’s Anadolu Agency (AA) had previously highlighted Uzbekistan’s efforts in late August of the same year, noting the testing of an “edible transgenic tomato vaccine” as part of the global fight against the pandemic. Scientists from the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics of the Academy of Sciences modified the genetics of tomatoes by introducing a cloned fragment of the coronavirus, turning plant cells into an effective vaccine against the virus.
