Sarnia

Tobacco Plants Helping Battle Ebola, Nerve Gases

Tobacco plants are seen in a bad light by some because of their association with cigarettes and lung cancer.

But a Guelph-based company is using the plants as a low-cost way to produce drugs.

PlantForm is a spin-off of the University of Guelph.

The company is currently working on an Ebola treatment and a nerve gas antidote.

It uses genetically modified tobacco plants to grow biopharmaceuticals in fully-contained greenhouse environments.

President and CEO Don Stewart says that significantly lowers the cost of those drugs compared with industry standard fermentation systems.

Besides the work it's currently doing on an Ebola treatment and a nerve gas antidote, PlantForm already produces some cancer drugs and innovator antibodies for HIV/AIDS treatment.

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