Golden Lettuce Genetic Engineering

Golden Lettuce Genetic Engineering – Vitamin Gold Discovery

The world is obsessed with gold. Now, scientists have discovered a new gold with a twist of vitamins.

If you like Lettuce in your burgers, sandwiches, and salads, you would be thrilled to hear about the recent development of a new type of lettuce called “Golden Lettuce.” With a surprising vitamin kick, Golden Lettuce comes with a vitamin boost.

Genetic Engineering of ‘Golden Lettuce’ – The team from  Valencia Polytechnic University (UPV) in Spain has genetically modified lettuce to increase the level of beta-carotene pigment found in most leafy vegetables, one of which is lettuce.

It is a necessary nutrient for our immune function, vision, growth, and development. These green leafy vegetables are a good source of vitamin A. Tiny green ‘solar panels’ that power photosynthesis, known as chloroplast, increasing the plant’s beta-carotene stockpile would’ve been disruptive. To avoid the natural photosynthesis process, the lettuce needs to live and grow. When too much or too little beta-carotene is produced in the chloroplasts, they stop functioning, and the leaves eventually die.”

A group of scientists has combined biotechnology techniques to produce and accumulate successfully beta carotene in lettuce. Some extra beta-carotene gets stored

in the cytosol, the liquid part of the leaf cells. 

Scientists have introduced the gene for the bacterial enzyme crtB, which can store even more beta-carotene and subjected to high-intensity light treatment and also stores more fatty units know as plastoglobules being subjected inside lettuce. Increasing the bioaccessibility of the lettuce increases the availability of beta-carotene in the intestine where it converts into vitamin A. 

In 2023, a study found that this is a novel way to reduce vitamin A deficiency by adding genetically modified lettuce to our daily food in to maintain your healthy diet. 

Burgers are no longer junk foods golden lettuce adds more nutrient value to burgers. So now we can have burger with extra nutritional value.

Diluxi Arya
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