Genetically Engineered Tomatoes With Enhanced Flavonol Content
August 24, 2006 by ruth
Filed under Food & Nutrition
If it would lessen your risk for contracting heart disease or type-2 diabetes, would you eat tomatoes genetically engineered to have enriched flavonoid content?
Flavonoids are secondary plant metabolites thought to play an important role in reducing risks for cardiovascular diseases. So, scientists came up with a tomato cultivar with richer flavonoid content by inserting Petunia chalcone isomerase (CHI) and Gerbera hybrida flavone synthase (FNS) genes into tomato plants to obtain the final transgenic plant, Lycopersicon esculentum cv. Moneymaker.
In a controlled study, the flavonoid-rich tomatoes (flTom) were fed to mice genetically engineered to express human C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation and therefore a good predictor for the onset of type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Data indicate that flTom significantly exceeded the wild type tomatoes in decreasing CRP levels, and therefore cardiovascular and type 2- diabetes risks. We’re talking of an equivalent to a human daily intake of 2.3 grams of peel or about 230 grams of fresh tomato.
According to this article, here’s why flTom aces the wild types:
The flTom contained significantly higher concentrations of the flavonoles, quercitin and kampferol, and their respective glucosides and rutinosides, and the flavone, luteolin (aglycon and glucoside derivatives) than the normal wild-type tomato (wtTom).
And it is the effect of these flavonoids, propose the researchers, on the signalling of the so-called nuclear factor-kappa B(NF-kB), a pro-inflammatory protein that is also said to activate a variety of human cancers, that could be behind the benefits.
Of course, it will still take years of human clinical trials and regulatory processes before these tomatoes find its way to your supermarket. If, and when it does, would you consider adding flTom to your salads?
Would I consider adding flTom to my salad? I suppose I would, if they can convince me that they are safe for human consumption. I think genetic engineering has a great potential, but we are in the very early stages, so I would expect “bugs” in a product like this.
I’m not sure there’d be “bugs”, but it will take a looooong time (maybe never) before we can be absolutely, totally, 100% sure of the safety of any GMO food.
Quite ironically, time and again, a lot of foodstuff have been proven to be unhealthy, even harmful, and yet people can’t resist them.
I’m a vegetarian and have studied alternative medicine (that’s not the same thing as saying I believe in it). Would I eat these? Well… I would not be an early adopter, but if a year or so went by and there were no problems, yeah, I’d probably rather have them than not.
I’d eat them sure. I have no problem with GE foods, especially when they are just enhancing a feature already found in the food naturally, especially since most genes are very similar across species. If they start adding really foreign genes with a high chance of unknown results/new chemicals/potentially dangerous reactions, then I want to wait until someone else eats it first
Is there a separate brand name for GE tomatoes
Where can I get them
Sree
Where can I find GE tomatos Is there any other name for it
Sree
Some of you people are in for a surprise about what you are eating. Here is a web site you should check out http://www.truefoodnow.org.
DO SOME RESEARCH ONLINE