Genetically-modified tomatoes may be the key to win the global fight against bird flu.
This is because Australian plant scientist Amanda Walmsley is working on growing a vaccine on GM tomatoes against the deadly H5N1 virus.She is hoping to develop a vaccine for the birds to fight against H5N1 virus that is causing the bird flu. The technique used will be similar to the vaccine created against the Newcastle Disease in tobacco plant. To develop such GM tomatoes will involve introduction of one of the H5N1 virus gene into tomato plants cells. The injected viral gene would order the tomato cells to produce a specific protein, found in bird flu, effectively making it a factory for the vaccine. This vaccination on bird will have proteins that will protect them if they came into contact with H5N1.

If this vaccine is turns out to be successful, it will reduce the number and risk of viral infected birds in poultry,  hence in turn decrease the possible of the bird flu turning into pandemic, and reduce the risk of it being transmitted in and between humans,Dr Walmsley hopes to have a vaccine ready for preliminary test in mice by the end of the year.  

I believe that this is just a starting step, if Dr. Walmsley does succeed in her mission, it will be a boost to a fight against the bird flu. The GM tomatoes are our new hope to fight the battle. Although the vaccine is against bird, it will have a major impact on us, because if we reduce the viral infection among birds, this will automatically reduce the viral to spread in human, and will stop the flu from becoming pandemic

 source: Financial Times Information

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