Using Vaccinia's innate ability to introduce DNA into mammalian cells for production of recombinant proteins

► We discover that Vaccinia virus has the innate ability to transfer exogenous DNA into mammalian cells during infection. ► We optimize the conditions of this viral transfer of DNA and develop a new protocol to produce proteins in mammalian cells. ► The newly developed methods have several advantages and are equal to or superior in performance when compared to standard methods. Production of recombinant protein in mammalian cells is time-consuming, labor-intensive and costly. While seeking to overcome these limitations, we discovered that Vaccinia virus has the innate ability to transfer exogenous plasmid DNA into mammalian cells during the infection process. Parameters influencing the efficiency of this event were characterized and a quick, simple and inexpensive way to produce eukaryotic proteins was established.