Recombinant subunit vaccines are some of the safest and most effective vaccines available, but their high cost and the requirement of advanced medical infrastructure for administration make them impractical for many developing world diseases. Plant-based vaccines have shifted that paradigm by paving the way for recombinant vaccine production at agricultural scale using an edible host. However, enthusiasm for “molecular pharming” in food crops has waned in the last decade due to difficulty in developing transgenic crop plants and concerns of contaminating the food supply. Microalgae could be poised to become the next candidate in recombinant subunit vaccine production, as they present several advantages over terrestrial crop plant-based platforms including scalable and contained growth, rapid transformation, easily obtained stable cell lines, and consistent transgene expression levels. Algae have been shown to accumulate and properly fold several vaccine antigens, and efforts are underway to create recombinant algal fusion proteins that can enhance antigenicity for effective orally delivered vaccines. These approaches have the potential to revolutionize the way subunit vaccines are made and delivered – from costly parenteral administration of purified protein, to an inexpensive oral algae tablet with effective mucosal and systemic immune reactivity.

Infectious diseases directly account for nearly 25% of deaths worldwide, and are a predominant cause of morbidity and mortality in the developing world (Fauci et al., 2005). Even for diseases for which vaccines exist, limited access – due to financial as well as infrastructural or medical personnel limitations – is a major contributor to this high infectious disease burden. Many developing world diseases do not yet have vaccines, in part because traditional vaccine production costs present a significant investment hurdle, considering the financial capacity of the intended consumers. Both cost and ease of administration are challenges that must be tackled to address this undue burden on global health and productivity.

Oral vaccination has many distinct advantages over parenteral administration, but has proven difficult to achieve thus far, reflected by the scarcity of licensed oral vaccines. Perhaps the most significant benefit of oral vaccination is the ability to elicit both mucosal and systemic immunity. As most human pathogens enter via mucosal surfaces – either nasally, orally, or by sexual transmission – mucosal immunity can serve as a first line of defense to prevent infection before it reaches the bloodstream (Mason and Herbst-Kralovetz, 2012). Oral vaccines also obviate the need for trained medical personnel to administer them and reduce the risks of infection associated with needles. They also have higher compliance from patients, owing to the lack of fear and resistance associated with injections. Both of these latter aspects are important considerations for successful vaccination campaign coverage in remote or resource-limited settings.

Conclusion

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