Page 273 - Binder2

Not all plants are created equal. Lettuce, duckweed, and
rice have emerged as preferred platforms for edible
biologics—and each offers unique advantages.

• Lettuce is fast-growing, edible raw, and has a well-
established transformation toolkit. It’s ideal for oral
delivery in encapsulated, freeze-dried form—
particularly for chronic dosing.
• Duckweed is a tiny aquatic plant with rapid
biomass accumulation and minimal growth
requirements. It can be cultivated in bioreactors or
hydroponic systems with incredible efficiency.
• Rice offers advantages in protein stability—seeds
can protect proteins for years in dry storage. This
makes it ideal for shelf-stable biologics intended for
global distribution, especially in regions with
limited refrigeration.

Each host can be tailored to the therapeutic use case—
lettuce for gut-local action, rice for thermostable vaccines,
duckweed for scalable protein output. The goal isn’t to pick
a single champion, but to build a toolkit—choosing the
right plant for the right patient and the right disease.

Step 5: The Control Problem

Once the transgenic plants are established, they’re not
grown in open fields. They’re cultivated in tightly
controlled environments: greenhouses, vertical farms, or
indoor hydroponic facilities. These systems offer consistent
light, temperature, and humidity, enabling precise control
over growth cycles and protein expression.

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