The book, Frontiers in Molecular Pharming, consists of 13 chapters subdivided into three sections. The chapters in the book are strategically organized to allow easy reading.
Section I (System Biology – in silico Characterization of Proteins and Peptides) begins with Chapter 1 in which Dr. Rahman and his colleagues very comprehensively highlight various bioinformatics tools for predicting epitopic regions and a variety of immunological techniques to monitor the immune response generated against selected epitopic regions for the development of vaccines and diagnostics. Dr. Tahir ul Qamar and his colleagues in Chapter 2 have discussed the recent progress in the emerging field of immunoinformatics and its role in vaccine development. Dr. Ali explains the computational toolbox and its use in determining protein stability and analysis to improve thermostability in Chapter 3. In Chapter 4, Dr. Chen and her colleagues suggest how an evolving approach to Pan-proteomics is complementing our understanding of the functional complexity of emerging and highly virulent pathogens and their resistance development against drugs. Further, in Chapter 5, Drs. Haider and Niazi briefly overview the computational methods to predict the biological roles of peptides and proteins for medical or industrial applications.
Section II (Molecular Pharming for Human Beings) consists of six chapters, i.e., Chapters 6 through 11. In Chapter 6, Dr. Khan and his team members explain comprehensively how diverse expression systems could be used to costeffectively develop recombinant pharmaceuticals and their application to control diseases in animals and human beings. Dr. Ahmad and his team provide a snapshot of different expression systems and argue that the plant-based expression system is highly commercially feasible not only for the production of high-value targets but also to address global challenges like COVID-19 in Chapter 7. In Chapter 8, Drs. Mangena and Mkhize explain the role of antibody cross-reactivity and specificity concerning basic principles, challenges, and detection for rapid and reliable assessment in Fusarium pathogens. Dr. Waheed and his team in Chapter 9 and Dr. Rashid and her team in Chapter10 have discussed how the requisition of plant-based medicine is increasing day-by-day with its perspective to human diseases, and several advantages owing to United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs). Dr. Qasim and his colleagues in Chapter 11 explain the importance of proteins and peptides as biomarkers for the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases to improve the risk prediction at the population level. Further, the authors explore how new technologies and innovations can be applied to advance the science of vaccine-associated biomarkers.
Section III (Molecular Pharming for Animals) consists of two chapters. In Chapter 12, Dr. Aqib and his colleagues highlight the history and recent trends in veterinary pharmaceuticals and vaccines. They further discuss the nutraceutical potential of animal products as one of the fascinating areas of research with considerable anti-microbial, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and neuroprotective functions. Dr. Khan and his team in Chapter 13 highlight the importance of plant-based gene expression systems that have been exploited as bioreactors for the cost-effective production of pharmaceuticals, predominantly for the expression and accumulation of antigenic proteins, to be used as vaccines for livestock and poultry. Further, they have discussed various types of vaccines keeping in view diseases like Infectious Bursal Disease (IBD), New Castle Disease (ND), and Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).
Molecular farming is progressively reaching the stage of being considered as an economical alternative to established systems for the production of pharmaceuticals. Thus, this volume serves as a treasured resource for students and professionals of molecular biology, biotechnology, medicinal chemistry, and organic chemistry.
About the Editor:
Muhammad Sarwar Khan has an established academic career in Plant Molecular Biology, Biopharming, and Education. He started his career as a graduate student researching nutritious plants’ biotechnology and afterwards, he earned his Ph.D. in Plant Molecular Biology specializing in Chloroplast Biotechnology from the University of Cambridge, UK. Dr. Khan was awarded a prestigious postdoctoral fellowship by The Rockefeller Foundation for researching at the Waksman Institute of Microbiology, Rutgers, and the State University of New Jersey. His findings—research of first-of-its-kind—was published in Nature Biotechnology. Dr. Khan was appointed as National Coordinator to intermediate level students for participation in the International Biology Olympiads. He served as the founding Group Leader of Chloroplast Biotechnology and Bio pharming Group, then as founding head of the Biotech Interdisciplinary Division (BID) at NIBGE, and is currently serving as Professor and Director of the Center of Agricultural Biochemistry and Biotechnology (CABB), University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. He has served as Director General of the Social Safety Net Program of the Government of Pakistan.
Dr. Khan has supervised more than 100 Ph.D. scholars, MPhil students, and researchers who are now serving at national and international levels in various research institutes and universities. He has vastly published in high-impact journals and is the author of several book chapters and books. His current research interests include the development of plant-based cost-effective therapeutics and edible vaccines for animals. Dr. Khan has received prestigious awards, including the President’s Medal for Technology, a Gold Medal in Agriculture from the Pakistan Academy of Sciences, a Performance Gold Medal by PAEC, the Biotechnologist Award by the National Commission of Biotechnology, and the Best University Teacher Award by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. He is also a fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth Society, the Cambridge Philosophical Society, and a member of the International Association for Plant Biotechnology. Currently, he is serving as Editor/Guest Editor on several international research journals and books, being published by publishers like Springer, Taylors & Francis, Bentham, and IntechOpen.
Keywords:
Diagnostics, Epitope prediction, Protein targets, Vaccine, Molecular dynamics, Cell culture, Plant expression system, Somatic hyper mutation, Pharmaceutical products, Plant systems, Recombinant Proteins, Transient Expression.
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