Leaves of Lettuce Are Going to Change the World of Biopharmaceuticals Forever

Elon Musk may be convinced that artificial intelligence poses one of the single greatest threats to humanity, but we're here to tell you that what you should actually be worried about is a world of full of extremely hungry manatees. In fact, the next time you see the bloated and distended silhouette of a cow of the sea menacingly floating toward you with the speed of a mobility scooter gone mad, RUN.

The reason behind this cryptic post-apocalyptic premonition? Because shit just got real for the world's supply of lettuce. And there may not be much of it left for the manatees to eat once we humans get done using it up—to save our lives.

That's right. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have just found a way to use freeze-dried lettuce leaves to create shelf-stable drugs. This "paradigm shift" in the world of drugs—including vaccines—might just rock the pharmaceutical game to its core.

Traditional biopharmaceuticals—or whole protein-based drugs—are what we use today. In general, they are ridiculously expensive in large part thanks to the need for refrigerated transport.

A study recently published in the medical journal Biomaterials is the first to successfully demonstrate the commercial viability of producing a low-cost drugs created entirely from plants. The researchers achieved this by using freeze-dried lettuce leaves to create a blood-clotting for hemophilia patients.

But the hemophilia drug is just one of many drugs in the works that are based on a completely new approach. The study's senior author, Professor Henry Daniell, explained that, "This is a milestone in our field, to make a fully functional drug in plants, produce it at a large scale, and in quantities sufficient for human clinical trials." More than 30 different vaccines have been produced using lettuce. And these vaccines can be stored and shipped at room temperature, a much-needed advance in the vaccine world.

You see, traditional vaccines are made from killed pathogens, which are inactive versions of the bacteria, viruses, or other microorganisms that create disease. These pathogens need to be delivered and stored using refrigeration. But refrigeration is not available all over the world—many remote areas just don't have electricity. The recent polio outbreak in Africa is an example of the lack of electricity having deadly effects.

But the new lettuce-based method of creating drugs works by injecting therapeutic proteins into lettuce cells. This method is cheaper, safer, and more readily available, largely because the resulting drugs are shelf-stable for months—and even years. No need for pathogens and no need for refrigeration.

At Penn, a state-of-the-art greenhouse has been built. Polio, HPV and diabetes drugs are among the 30 different vaccines that have been successfully engineered using lettuce. It turns out that lettuce's strong plant cells protect the vaccines and its thin leaves are easily dried and powdered into capsules.

Dr. Daniell says this new method of making drugs will "change the landscape and save lives." His goal is to conduct human studies over the next few years, an ambitious goal about which he is optimistic.

Oh, lettuce. How can you be so good for us? And sorry manatees—time to share the salad.