“Golden Lettuce” is genetically engineered to have higher beta-carotene levels
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Re: “Golden Lettuce” is genetically engineered to have higher beta-carotene levels
#2This is a good idea imo. Cus we grow vegetables so big and fast nowadays they end with with less nutrients in them by volume.
Re: “Golden Lettuce” is genetically engineered to have higher beta-carotene levels
#3This is a good idea imo. Cus we grow vegetables so big and fast nowadays they end with with less nutrients in them by volume.
Who is "we"? Because that sounds like a highly localized problem specific to the North American continent.
Re: “Golden Lettuce” is genetically engineered to have higher beta-carotene levels
#4This is a good idea imo. Cus we grow vegetables so big and fast nowadays they end with with less nutrients in them by volume.
A large part of the problem in the us is soil depletion. We need to regenerate it by allowing roots of various weeds to pull nutrients up to the surface.
Re: “Golden Lettuce” is genetically engineered to have higher beta-carotene levels
#5This is a good idea imo. Cus we grow vegetables so big and fast nowadays they end with with less nutrients in them by volume.
Who is "we"? Because that sounds like a highly localized problem specific to the North American continent.
Higher atmospheric CO2 is actually causing this all around the world. Faster, bigger plants with less nutrient density.
Re: “Golden Lettuce” is genetically engineered to have higher beta-carotene levels
#6I see the title was fixed here. The original said 30x more vitamins, but it is only beta-carotene. They created a version of lettuce that has a little more beta carotene than Kale, basically, but not as nutrient dense in any other way.
Re: “Golden Lettuce” is genetically engineered to have higher beta-carotene levels
#7I wanted to say something in favor of sweet potatoes, so did some research:
[0] says:
The best lettuce has 2.5mg of beta-carotene in 47g of lettuce. The best sweet potato has 31mg of beta-carotene in 328g of sweet potato (sweet potatoes are the beta-carotene leader BTW :strong:).
If this modified lettuce can really have 30 times as much beta-carotene, that's a significant amount. I was expecting the numbers to show that lettuce had almost no beta-carotene, and after you times it by 30 it's still almost nothing, but apparently it's more significant than that.
[0]: https://ods.od.nih.gov/pubs/usdandb/VitA-betaCarotene-Conten...
Re: “Golden Lettuce” is genetically engineered to have higher beta-carotene levels
#8This is a good idea imo. Cus we grow vegetables so big and fast nowadays they end with with less nutrients in them by volume.
I do not see much value in a golden lettuce, because nothing stops you to eat one carrot every day, which will provide enough beta-carotene.
Moreover, the carrot is certainly cheaper, because it is not patented and it is available from a myriad of sources. Also a boiled carrot is unlikely to cause any health problems, while raw lettuce periodically causes disease outbreaks, so it is not a good choice for a staple food that you must eat every day to ensure your recommended intake of a vitamin.
There are other domains where genetic engineering can provide results that cannot be obtained by any alternatives.
For example, there are genetically-modified strains of the fungus Trichoderma that can be used to produce high-quality proteins, either whey proteins or eggwhite proteins.
Such fungal cultures have the potential to become a much better source of proteins than the milk and eggs or the meat produced by animals and they would have important advantages over plant proteins, by having a superior amino-acid profile and not requiring expensive methods for separation from starch.
Re: “Golden Lettuce” is genetically engineered to have higher beta-carotene levels
#9I see the title was fixed here. The original said 30x more vitamins, but it is only beta-carotene. They created a version of lettuce that has a little more beta carotene than Kale, basically, but not as nutrient dense in any other way.
On the other hand, kale is goitrogenic. With two little kids I like to make sure they get a good mix of vegetables which aren't all from the cabbage family. I'm lucky living in California; my local Safeway has all kinds of fresh vegetables, including various (non-cruciferous) lettuce greens, year round, but in many other places in the U.S. it's just iceberg plus cruciferous vegetables for long stretches.
Re: “Golden Lettuce” is genetically engineered to have higher beta-carotene levels
#10I wanted to say something in favor of sweet potatoes, so did some research: [0] says: The best lettuce has 2.5mg of beta-carotene in 47g of lettuce. The best sweet potato has 31mg of beta-carotene in 328g of sweet potato (sweet potatoes are the beta-carotene leader BTW :strong:). If this modified lettuce can really have 30 times as much beta-carotene, that's a significant amount. I was expecting the numbers to show t…
Oh, also, if you want a stupidly easy way to eat sweet potatoes, cut one up into bite sized chunks and cook it at 350 fahrenheit for 45 minutes or longer (it won't burn easily at that temperature). No need to remove the skin, but wash it first. They aren't bad even plain. This is an easy no-preperation-necessary to get at least 1 veggie.