Plant-Powered Vaccines

What if tomorrow’s vaccines could be grown in greenhouses, as well as manufactured in vast factories?

Plant-based vaccine production transforms living plants into miniature bioreactors, allowing scientists to extract vital ingredients by harvesting leaves nurtured within a controlled environment and pressing them.

Once scaled up using large bioreactors, this emerging approach could form part of a green medical revolution that could save lives across Africa, offering a faster, more flexible and more affordable route to producing vaccines close to where they’re needed most.

In this discussion, Imperial College London's Professor Faith Osier is joined online by University of Cape Town's Sandwisa James to explore how plant-powered vaccine manufacturing sits alongside other adaptable technologies, which use cells to express vaccine antigens. These include mRNA and egg-based systems , that together could help fuel a more resilient, equitable and self-sufficient future for African and global health.

This is a ticketed event, advance booking will open shortly.

Visitor information

Talks and discussions are intended for an adult audience and are best suited for ages 16+.

If you have an advance ticket, please arrive at the venue 10 minutes before the start time. Your ticket gives you priority access, however, as this is a free event we overbook to help ensure a full event and your space may be reallocated. Early arrival reduces this risk.

To see the precise location of where this talk is taking place, you can use what3words.com with the code 'ship.rips.congratulations'. 

This event has step-free access from the ground floor entrance of the Sir Alexander Fleming building and is fully wheelchair accessible, with designated wheelchair spaces located at the front of the lecture theatre.

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