Guest Lecture on the Production of Anti-Toxoplasma Immunoglobulin from Mucuna Bracteata Plant
Surabaya, 23 April 2025 – The Department of Chemistry at Universitas Airlangga held a guest lecture entitled “Plant-Made Protein: Production of Anti-Toxoplasma Immunoglobulin from Mucuna bracteata”, which was open to undergraduate and graduate students of Chemistry as well as other study programs. The event was presented by Dr. Nazrin Abd Aziz, a lecturer from the Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). The lecture was hosted by Dr. Rico Ramadhan, lecturer at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Airlangga.
The event was officially opened by the Head of the Department of Chemistry, Dr. Mochammad Zakki Fahmi, who extended a warm welcome to Dr. Aziz. As a form of appreciation, there was also an exchange of souvenirs between Universitas Airlangga and UTM before the lecture session began.
In his presentation, Dr. Aziz introduced Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, which has three main campuses in Johor Bahru, Pagoh, and Kuala Lumpur. He also introduced the Innovation Centre in Agritechnology for Advanced Bioprocessing, a research center at UTM that focuses on the development of pharmaceutical proteins through molecular pharming techniques – the production of therapeutic proteins using plants as bioreactors.
Dr. Aziz explained that the Mucuna bracteata plant is used as a medium to produce antibodies against the Toxoplasma gondii parasite, which causes toxoplasmosis commonly found in cats. The genetic engineering process is done by transferring immunoglobulin-coding DNA to the plant through the bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens. He also compared the performance of Mucuna bracteata with other plants in expressing antibodies. “To produce antibodies, immunoglobulin genes are added with special signals so that they can be directed to the plant’s endoplasmic reticulum,” said Dr. Aziz when answering questions from students regarding the production methods and functionality of proteins in plants.
In the Q&A session, a graduate student also asked about the efficiency comparison between permanent and transient genetic transformation methods. Dr. Aziz explained that permanent systems allow the integration of genes into the plant genome, while transient methods are not permanent and the expression results are often unstable. He also mentioned the possibility of protein degradation by proteases as one of the factors affecting expression results.
This activity ended with a group photo session between the speakers, lecturers, and guest lecture participants as documentation and a form of appreciation for the knowledge that had been shared. This guest lecture is an inspiring forum for the academic community to understand the potential of plant genetic engineering in the modern health and pharmaceutical fields.
Author: Web Content Team from HIMAKI
Editor: Kautsar Ul Haq
