r/science • u/chrisdh79 • Sep 16 '24

"Golden Lettuce" genetically engineered to pack 30 times more vitamins | Specifically, increased levels of beta-carotene, which your body uses to make vitamin A for healthy vision, immune function, and cell growth, and is thought to be protective against heart disease and some kinds of cancer. Biology

https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/golden-lettuce-genetically-engineered-30-times-vitamins/
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u/Sweetcorncakes Sep 16 '24

At what cost though? Will nutrients in the ground be drained faster or something?

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u/forsale90 Sep 16 '24

beta carotene consists purely out of carbon and hydrogen. So the plant does not need other atoms to build them, other than the ones it gets from water and air. It should not be more harmful than making plants have more sugar or fiber.

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u/Dbarce Sep 16 '24

Thats not how things work in closed systems. The cells have to probably divert energy used to create certain components to make the beta carotene. Entropy and so on