Global Indigo

Pharm and industrial crops are plants genetically engineered to produce medical and industrial products, including human and veterinary drugs and biologics and industrial and research chemicals. Crops intentionally treated with genetically engineered viruses that, in turn, produce an industrial or medical substance in the infected plants are also considered industrial or pharm crops. In general, the term “pharm crops” refers to plants producing drugs or biologics and “industrial crops” to those producing industrial or research chemicals.

Pharm and industrial crops are produced by the same methods used to genetically engineer food crops. Briefly, scientists use recombinant DNA techniques to locate and isolate genes of pharmaceutical or industrial interest. These “transgenes” are then inserted into a crop plant using one of several methods now standard in the industry. The resulting pharm or industrial plant then produces the protein product encoded by the transgene as if it were one of its own naturally occurring genes. Farmers can grow pharm and industrial crops in same way they do unaltered crops.

For most pharm and industrial uses, scientists plan to extract the novel proteins (or the compounds produced as a result of the function of the novel proteins) from the industrial or pharm crop and purify them before use. In such cases, the new proteins in the crops may or may not be harmful. In some cases, the novel products will be delivered in active form to people or animals in the edible fruit or other parts of the plant.