Growlab | |
---|---|
Building in Beyond Earth | |
Cost | 265 |
Maintenance | 1 Energy |
Requires | 4 Harmony Fungus near the city Biology |
Specialist slots | None |
Effect | +3 Food +1 from Fungus |
Notes | None |
The Growlab is a Harmony building that increases food production.
History[ | ]
In colonial Growlabs across the planet, horticulturists and botanists use infusions of ferredoxin and quinone, coupled with genetic engineering, to accelerate the rate and efficiency of photosynthesis in a wide variety of fauna. From the initial trials on algae and cyanobacteria, which served to augment the colonial diet (nutritious, if bland), to the current efforts to induce pheophytins in the indigenous fungi, the Growlabs have been an important contributor to the survival of several settlements. Over the decades since planetfall, a number of “improved” crops have been created and the initial generations cloned in Growlabs: modified soybeans and maize offer improved edible oils; a vitamin-enriched corn derived from African varieties has high nutrients; altered native fungi similar to Old Earth shiitakes and enokitakes produce large amounts of faux meat mycoprotein. These, and most other Growlab-created crops, have been transferred from the labs to being grown by large-scale commercial operations. However, conditions on the surface of the planet have proved too harsh for extensive cultivation of some of the new species, and thus there are a number of Growlabs that serve as bioshelters rather than horticulture laboratories.