Abstract

Arik Halit, Kazim Ozcan and Sergio D. Hasan

The production in genetically modified plants of recombinant proteins for pharmaceutical or industrial use, also referred to as "plant molecular farming", deserves increasing interest due to its potential advantages. However, this type of application of genetic engineering also raises some biosafety concerns, in particular regarding aspects such as transgene spread in the environment or accidental contamination of the food and feed chains. This review presents the current state of the art of this sector, discusses some relevant regulatory issues and outlines important scientific aspects that should be considered during the safety assessment of genetically modified plants grown for this purpose. In particular, it addresses general strategies as well as specific potential containment measures that could be applied to limit the potential environmental and human health impacts linked to plant molecular farming.