The present invention provides systems and methods for producing a nucleic acid or protein in transgenic sprouted seedlings or sprouted seedlings engineered to transiently express a nucleic acid or protein of interest. The sprouted seedlings of the invention are grown in a contained, regulatable environment, wherein expression of a pharmaceutically active protein is controlled by an exogenously inducible promoter or a viral promoter. The sprouted seedlings may be eaten live or preferably harvested live to preserve the maximal biological activity of the nucleic acid or protein.