The media of Uzbekistan and Russia are relentlessly writing about a vaccine against COVID-19 that uses tomato ingredients.
Factchecker.uz studied the case. developed in Uzbekistan.
According to the Swiss research publisher Frontiers scientists from the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, the Institute of Human Immunology and Genomics of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan have created an edible vaccine against COVID-19 obtained from tomato, naming it as TOMAVAC.
Allegedly, Uzbek scientists inserted a gene fragment encoding the antigenic protein S1 of the coronavirus into special vectors and integrated it into the genome of tomato cells. From these cells, a tomato received the vegetable that reproduces the S1 antigen protein. As a result, tomato fruits obtained from these plants were shown to synthesize stable antigenic protein S1 and were produced as the new TOMAVAC vaccine.
The vaccine was first tested on rodents and human volunteers. The studies were approved by the institutional ethics board of the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics. The edible vaccine provides two levels of protection against COVID-19.
Central Asian scientists have been working on this first edible vaccine since January 2021.
Factchecker.uz verdict: true