A team of scientists have come together from all over the world to produce a purple genetically modified tomato which could be the answer to a longer life. The purple GM tomato was used in a pilot experiment where cancer-susceptible mice were the taste-testers. One mouse was fed the genetically modified purple tomato; the other mouse was fed a normal red tomato. Scientists had used genes from a snapdragon plant (Antirrhinum) and inserted those genes into the plant of the tomato. These tomatoes grew purple due to the product “anthocyanins” which is a purple pigment. Anthocyanins are believed to be successful in protecting against some cancers, cardiovascular disease, age-related degenerative diseases, diabetes, obesity and other illnesses. Tomatoes were chosen because they contain two very important antioxidants; lycopene and flavonoids which help stop diseases. The mice that took the GM tomato had a longer life span of 182 days whereas the mice that took the normal tomato only had 142 days. Even though it is successful on mice, does not necessarily mean this will be the same outcome for humans.
Anthocyanin Pansies – The purple colour is the pigment Anthocyanin
By Melanie Giandzi
