An experimental drug that could eventually save millions of lives threatened by HIV is currently being researched in the county.
Genetically-modified tobacco plants grown at East Malling Research are designed to provide a cheap and effective treatment for HIV and Aids.
But work is still in the initial stages and it could be 10 years before any product is on the market.
After harvesting, the aim is to turn extracts from the plant into a medicinal cream.
Project leader Professor Julian Ma hopes it will be a breakthrough in the treatment of HIV/Aids that is sweeping Africa.
He said: “There are some huge cost advantages. I think the key is the scalability.
“The second thing is that people in developing countries can't afford to pay, so you have to produce at the lowest cost possible.”
The tobacco plants are being grown under strictly controlled conditions at the research site.
Researchers at St George's Hospital in London, are genetically modifying the plants with a bacteria that reacts with them at a genetic level so that they produce a protein called cyanovirin.
Tests on monkeys have shown it to be more than 80 per cent effective at blocking the HIV virus.
POSTED: 06/07/2006 12:45:06
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