Genetically modified potatoes may be an alternative to the syringe and needle for hepatitis B vaccine, scientists have shown.

The hepatitis B virus (HBV, transmitted by blood or sexual fluids, causes liver failure and liver cancer. Despite the availability of a safe, injectable vaccine, the virus currently infects an estimated 350 million people worldwide and kills about a million people every year.

In recent years scientists have raced to develop oral vaccines with genetically modified plants as an alternative to overcome the economic and safety limitations of syringe-and-needle vaccination programs, especially in developing countries, the National Geographic news channel informed.

Oral vaccines, taken by mouth, are much more appeasing than vaccine injections, as they are easy and associated problems with potential contamination due to syringes and needles.

Previously researchers have shown that potatoes can deliver vaccines for intestinal pathogens such as the E. coli and Norwalk viruses, which enter the body via the mouth.

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