Graphical abstract via Cell Biomaterial
A plant virus that usually bothers beans is showing promise as an unexpected ally against cancer. It’s called cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV), and while it can’t infect people, it seems to rattle the human immune system in a way that turns it against tumors.
Researchers tested it against a nearly identical virus, the cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV). Both get swallowed up by the body’s immune cells, but only the mosaic virus sets off the right chain reaction. It pushes cells to release interferons, proteins that have long been known to slow cancer. The mottle virus, by contrast, mostly stirs up a little inflammation and not much else.
The difference appears to come down to the virus’s RNA. Mosaic virus RNA sticks around longer, reaching the cell compartments that flip on stronger immune pathways. Its cousin’s RNA doesn’t make it that far.
What excites researchers is that this potential treatment could be cheap to produce. The virus can simply be grown in plants, with nothing more than sunlight, soil, and water. That makes it very different from the expensive, highly engineered cancer therapies on the market today.
So far, it looks safe in animals. When injected into tumours, the virus not only shrinks them but also seems to train the body to hunt down cancer elsewhere. Clinical trials are on the horizon and if they succeed, a virus from humble bean plants could help change how cancer is treated.
Reference:
Omole, A. O., Newton, H. S., Cedrone, E., Nematpour, K., Xie, S., Zhao, Y., Tran, B., Dobrovolskaia, M. A., & Steinmetz, N. F. (2025). Comparative analyses for plant virus-based cancer immunotherapy drug development. Cell Biomaterials, 1(6), Article 100095. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celbio.2025.100095
