Those are some great points, thank you! I wasn’t aware (and if I ever was, I forgot!) that glycosylation was much more common in eukaryotes than in prokaryotes - that is very interesting.
EDIT: didn’t consider extraction of the molecule, in both cases of plant and microbial production, that would require eome specific equipment. Probably centrifuges and chromatography required for both.
Still, I think that the technical requirements for an extraction are much more accessible than an industrial a bioreactor setup. So your points still stand.
Another point I can think of is that storing a bunch of seeds in tubes at room temperature for many decades is trivial compared to cryo-storing microbes. Might make it easier to handle if you decide to produce the genetically engineered plants on earth. Just collect a few seeds from each strain that produces a specific useful thing and germinate the seeds when you need it
Those are some great points, thank you! I wasn’t aware (and if I ever was, I forgot!) that glycosylation was much more common in eukaryotes than in prokaryotes - that is very interesting.
Still, I think that the technical requirements for an extraction are much more accessible than an industrial a bioreactor setup. So your points still stand.
Another point I can think of is that storing a bunch of seeds in tubes at room temperature for many decades is trivial compared to cryo-storing microbes. Might make it easier to handle if you decide to produce the genetically engineered plants on earth. Just collect a few seeds from each strain that produces a specific useful thing and germinate the seeds when you need it