Monday, September 12, 2022

Genetically modified purple tomato with lots of antioxidants approved by US regulators

Who is scared of genetically modified food? They almost look like plums! How about genetically modifying plums to have a tomato like red skin? 😊

"... After more than a decade of development a nutritionally enhanced purple tomato has been deemed safe to grow by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The tomatoes have been gene edited to produce 10 times more antioxidants than pre-existing varieties. ...
Back in 2008 a fascinating study was published in the journal Nature Biotechnology. The research reported on a type of tomato that had been gene edited to produce high volumes of antioxidants called anthocyanins. ...
Some types of tomato with naturally purple skins do contain low levels of anthocyanins but some food scientists wondered if those levels could be increased with a few genetic tweaks. Two genes were taken from another plant (the snapdragon) and added to a type of purple tomato."

Genetically modified purple tomato approved by US regulators




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