The Bioactive Chronicles: Episode 1
We're delighted to unveil the first edition of our comic strip, The Bioactive Chronicles. Why a comic strip, you may ask? Well, we believe in the power of storytelling to captivate, educate, and inspire. And what better way to share the incredible world of plant cell culture than through vibrant illustrations and engaging narratives? Enjoy!
Across many many years, humans have evolved to survive. We developed large brains, the ability to run and an immune system to protect us from diseases.
Plants are different. To survive, they developed leaves, roots, seeds and flowers to adapt to their environment. Plants also evolved to produce complex chemical compounds to defend themselves from predators that want to turn them into a meal.
Since ancient times, humans have learned how to use these chemicals in medicines, cosmetics, food and more. We use lots of these chemicals today. One you will have heard of is caffeine from coffee plants. We drink it in our morning coffee but it’s also found in food supplements and cosmetics.
Many businesses use plant-derived chemicals in their products but there are many challenges with current methods…
- Waiting for a plant to mature so it can be harvested takes a long time.
- Plants often don’t produce enough of the chemical that’s needed.
- Growing the plants uses a lot of land, water and energy, and produces CO2.
- Harvesting the plants destroys natural habitats.
- Supply chains are affected by uncontrollable factors such as weather, plant disease, insects, and even politics!
Green Bioactives uses a technology that deals with all these challenges. It’s called Plant Cell Culture Technology…
It starts with a small sample from just one plant. No plants are pulled up or trees chopped down. This is all that is required for our scientists to work their magic.
Plant cells are very versatile which means we can train them to make the chemical we want. They get everything they need like nutrients and oxygen but they don’t have to face hungry insects, plant diseases or bad weather. That’s why we can get 10 to 100 times more of the chemical we want compared to what a whole plant can make. And it’s faster too because we don’t have to wait for the plant or tree to reach maturity, which can take months or even decades, depending on the plant. The cells don’t even grow leaves, roots or flowers. All they do is focus on growing more stem cells and producing the target chemical.
Our scientists check on them regularly, and we pick the stem cells that make the most of the chemical we want - quickly and reliably. The chosen cells are cloned again and again in bigger and bigger containers called bioreactors so we can make big batches of the target chemical for use in everyday products.
Plant Cell Culture Technology means businesses can plan better and make higher quality products. The target chemical is made the same way every time, in large volumes but more importantly… Plant Cell Culture Technology is much much better for the environment!
Is there a topic you'd like to see covered in the next comic strip adventure? If there is, don't hesitate to reach out and let us know.
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