Tobacco solving a health crisis?

In an interesting twist, biologists at the University of Victoria realized that a genetically modified version of tobacco that they were working on could be used in testing to determine if a person has already had COVID-19.

The modified tobacco plant provides a protein, like the spike protein in COVID, that is used to develop antibody tests. The team of biologists is prepping to work with manufacturing partners to determine if the plant-produced protein is a viable option for widely used serology tests.

Kudos to all of our members innovating and pivoting during this crisis.

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