Uzbek scientists have created an edible COVID-19 vaccine synthesized from the common tomato called TOMAVAC, the Frontiers research journal website says.

According to the journal, the scientists inserted a fragment of the gene encoding the S1 antigenic protein of the coronavirus into special vectors and spliced it into the genome of tomato cells. A tomato plant that reproduces the S1 antigenic protein was obtained from these cells.  As a result, tomato fruits derived from these plants were shown to synthesize a stable S1 antigenic protein and were selected as the new TOMAVAC vaccine.

The edible vaccine reportedly provides provide two-layered protection against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Earlier, Uzbek media outlets reported on the creation of a tomato-based vaccine, but it has now been tested on volunteers and animals at the Research Centre for Standardization of medicinal forms of the Pharmaceutical Institute in Tashkent.  The research was approved by the institutional ethics board of the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics.

The Uzbek media reports say this is the first edible vaccine for COVID-19.  Scientists have reportedly been developing it since January 2021.  

Turkiye’s Anadolu Agency (AA) reported in late August last year that as part of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, scientists in Uzbekistan have been testing "an edible transgenic tomato vaccine".  Scientists from the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics of the Academy of Sciences have reportedly been working to develop an edible vaccine against the virus by changing the genetics of tomatoes.  It was noted that scientists cloned the crown part of the coronavirus detected in the country and placed it in the plant cell, and as a result, these plant cells acted as a vaccine.