Doctor hunts for Ebola vaccine in genetically modified tobacco plants

(19 Aug 2014) Drug makers and academic laboratories are pushing scientific boundaries in a race to develop a treatment for the Ebola virus that's killed more than 1,100 people in West Africa. Researchers working on the experimental drug ZMapp have been using tobacco plants to produce proteins designed to deactivate the virus and kill cells infected with Ebola. Arizona State University Professor Charles Arntzen's became involved in the search for a treatment for Ebola in 2002 when he helped write a proposal for funding from the U.S. Army to study a possible treatment for the disease. His research focuses on genetically modifying tobacco plants to create proteins used in various drugs. "The ZMapp drug is really fairly simple," he said on Monday. "It is three antibodies, produced in a tobacco plant, and then we grind up the tobacco plants and purify the antibodies so that they essentially look like antibodies that would come from human serum," he added. Most of the work in this area uses a tobacco plant, but researchers note it's just a relative of the plant used to make cigarettes. Scientists say tobacco plants work well because they grow quickly and their biology is understood. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...