GM Tomatoes With An Extra Shot Of Health
May 18, 2009 The compound that some scientists say makes red wine healthy to drink may one day be found in pizza, reports Crop Biotech Update.
Scientists at Italy’s Institute of Sciences and Food Production have developed genetically modified tomatoes expressing high levels of resveratrol. Resveratrol is produced by certain plants, most notably grapes, to ward off pathogens.
Experimental studies show the compound exhibits anti-inflammatory, antiviral and cardio- and neuro-protective potentials. Additionally, the compound prevents tumor growth in animal cancer models.
The transgenic tomatoes express a stilbene synthase-expressing gene from grapes under the control of a fruit-specific promoter. They were found to produce high levels of resveratrol and its derivative, piceid, particularly in skin of mature fruits. The phenotype of transformed plants was similar to wild type plants although the fruits were seedless.
The scientists also evaluated the anti-oxidant capability of the resveratrol from transformed fruits. They say the extracts of transgenic tomato fruits display an anti-inflammatory effect, based on the suppression of prostaglandin production, greater than that of chemically synthesized or wild-type sourced resveratrol.
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