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Scientists at the John Innes centre in Norwich have created a tomato genetically engineered to have higher levels of antioxidants which may help to protect against cancer and other conditions. A purple tomato extract fed to mice was found to prolong their lifespan, and may provide dietary benefits for humans.
Dr Lara Bennett, science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said:
“It’s exciting to see new techniques that could potentially make healthy foods even better for us. But it’s too early to say whether anthocyanins obtained through diet could help to reduce the risk of cancer. We do know that eating a healthy, balanced diet that is rich in fibre, fruit and vegetables – and low in red and processed meat – is an important way to reduce your cancer risk.”
Prof Derek Burke, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia, said:
“This is a truly positive outcome from genetic modification of plants, and a real help to people wanting to improve their diets. Coming from a world-class lab in the UK, this advance will – I hope – be available one day in supermarkets across the country. I would certainly choose to eat it myself.”
Dr Paul Kroon, Research Leader in the Plant Natural Products Programme at the Institute of Food Research in Norwich, said:
“This is an important study that demonstrates that plants used as foods can be altered in ways that increase the density of potentially health-protective compounds, in this case anthocyanins in tomatoes. The genetically modified plants were able to produce anthocyanins at levels similar to those found in blackcurrants and blueberries which are some of the richest dietary sources available. The technology therefore offers great scope for altering colours of fruits and vegetables, and their content of potentially health-protective compounds. The paper also reported that cancer susceptible mice that usually have a relatively short lifespan, lived longer when their diets were supplemented with the purple tomatoes but not standard tomatoes. Although this is promising, it would be naive to assume that the same would necessarily occur in humans, but certainly there should be more research to investigate how these foods may be of benefit.”
Prof Joe Perry, visiting professor of biometry at University of Greenwich, said:
“This looks like a very interesting development. I look forward to the time when this variety of tomato can be submitted to the regulatory process to assess its safety.”