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and in the presence of plant-based adjuvants. This
facilitates regulatory T cell activation,
reprogramming the immune response rather than
suppressing it.
• Multimeric structures like secretory IgA (sIgA)
Plant systems—especially chloroplast and seed-
based platforms—have shown growing capacity to
fold and assemble complex, multimeric proteins
that are difficult or impossible to produce in
microbial systems. For example, sIgA, the body’s
frontline antibody at mucosal surfaces, requires
multiple chains and joining factors to assemble
correctly. These structures are natively compatible
with mucosal delivery, offering a biologic format
that acts where inflammation begins, not just where
it ends.

Persistence by Design

What unites these advances is a shift in design priority:
From peak effect to durable coexistence.

In the traditional biologics model, the goal is to deliver a
molecule that binds, blocks, or modulates. Whether the
immune system tolerates that molecule is a secondary
concern—often managed only when problems arise.

In edible biologics, immune compatibility is not an
afterthought. It’s the brief.

Persistence becomes a design principle, embedded into:

• The physical form of the plant-encapsulated drug
• The metabolic fate of the protein in the gut

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