This article was from FOX News online last Friday. I can't find the
link again today.
    Thom Bradley
Chesapeake, Virginia
Bio-Engineered Honey Could Help Medicine Go Down > 9.14 a.m. ET (1314
GMT) June 24, 1999
>
> LONDON - Dutch researchers are breeding genetically modified plants
whose > nectar could be used to produce honey containing drugs or
vaccines, New
> Scientist magazine said Wednesday.
> Scientists at the Center for Plant Breeding and Reproduction Research
in > Wageningen are adding genes for various drugs to the plants to
produce a > healing nectar.
>
> They discovered a genetic switch, or promoter, that activates the
genes in >
> the nectary of the plant where the nectar is made. The switch is
specific > to
> the nectary so the drugs are produced only in the nectar. >
> "It's a production system that would require very little
purification," > Tineke Creemers told New Scientist magazine.
>
> The genetically modified honey could either be fed to patients or the
> drugs
> could be taken from it.
>
> Creemers and her colleagues are using a similar system to grow
genetically >
> modified petunias to produce a vaccine against a dog disease called >
parvovirus.
>
> "Once the plants are fully grown and begin producing nectar, bees will
be > unleashed on them to produce honey that the researchers hope will
contain > the vaccine," the magazine added.
>
> The study is restricted to greenhouses so the researchers can
guarantee > the
> bees are only feeding on the modified plants. >
> The scientists are also looking into whether the sugar in honey will
act > as
> a preservative which could be a big advantage for vaccination programs
in > tropical countries which lack large supplies of refrigeration
equipment. >