Researchers at the Molecular and Cellular Plant Biology Institute (IBMCP) of
the Universitat Polit?cnica de Val?ncia in Spain, along with the Spanish
National Research Council (CSIC), are collaborating for the NEWCOTIANA
project, a research and innovation initiative, which makes use of new plant
breeding technologies to produce medicine, cosmetics, and other products of
added value in tobacco plants.

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) is a crop used to produce cigarettes, which
science has established as harmful for people's health. However, tobacco
plants can also be used to provide beneficial effects for human health. The
NEWCOTIANA project will apply high accuracy New Breeding Techniques (NBTs)
to turn tobacco leaves and those of a similar species called Nicotiana
benthamiana into biofactories of health-promoting substances such as
anti-ageing or anti-inflammatory agents, and medicines such as vaccines or
antibodies.

"We will generate new varieties of tobacco and N. benthamiana that safely
work as biofactories to harvest medical substances of high added value,"
explains Diego Orzáez, researcher for the CSIC and coordinator of the
NEWCOTIANA project."



[ruvid.org]