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4.3. The Science of Plant-Based Protein
Expression

If edible biologics are the future of immune-compatible
medicine, then plant-based protein expression is the engine
behind it. It’s the quiet revolution beneath the surface—
turning leaves, seeds, and aquatic greens into living drug
factories that can produce therapeutic proteins at scale,
without the cost, complexity, or carbon footprint of
conventional systems.

This is not theoretical. It’s happening now. And it changes
everything.

How It Works: Turning Plants into Bioreactors

At its core, plant-based expression is a process of
biological reprogramming. It transforms a common
plant—lettuce, duckweed, rice—into a living production
system for high-value therapeutic proteins. The goal: use
the plant’s natural machinery to produce complex
biologics—enzymes, antibodies, or antigens—that would
otherwise require costly and fragile microbial or
mammalian cell systems.

Unlike traditional biologic manufacturing, which depends
on fermenters, filters, and purification pipelines, this
approach uses photosynthetic organisms as bio factories,
powered by sunlight, nutrients, and water.

It’s not just biotech.
It’s molecular agriculture.

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