Researchers have devised a way to produce large quantities of the blood protein human serum albumin, or HSA, from rice. HSA is in high demand; it is widely used in drug and vaccine production.

in addition to treatments for severe burns, liver cirrhosis, or hemorrhagic shock. However, current HSA supplies are limited by the availability of donor blood from which HSA is traditionally extracted, and carry a high risk of virus contamination.

To overcome these obstacles, Yang He and colleagues engineered rice seeds to produce substantial quantities of HSA, which comprised approximately 10% of the total soluble protein in the seed.

The team then developed a method to purify HSA from the rice seeds, and obtained about 2.75 grams of HSA per kilogram of rice. Biochemical tests suggested that the HSA extracted from rice was physically and chemically equivalent to blood-derived HSA.

Furthermore, the authors found that rice-derived HSA was as effective as blood-derived HSA in treating liver cirrhosis in rats.

The findings suggest that the transgenic rice seeds may be a cost-effective source for HSA and might help satisfy an increasing worldwide demand for the protein, according to the authors.

Source: PNAS