We are interrupting your timeline with a breaking news on the
#BigPurpleTomato
๐
The
@USDA_APHIS
found that the tomato is unlikely to pose an increased plant pest risk compared to other cultivated tomatoes, & has approved it for planting in the US.
More:
Imagine these two delicious combo in your dinner plate.
Left is golden rice enriched with beta carotene ๐พ. Right is purple tomato enriched with anthocyanin, all products of agricultural biotechnology.
We love to see science improve lives!๐๐
Norfolk reached a very proud milestone yesterday!
@Ginkgo
served our tasty, nutritious and beautiful purple tomato at their Ferment event, to the delight of hundreds of guests! Honored to be among other Synbio food stars like
@motiffoodworks
!
Word on the street is that the newly approved
#BigPurpleTomato
will revolutionize the tomato industry.
We can't wait to see it in the grocery stores. Can you?
Plant biologist, Professor Martin
@JohnInnesCentre
has spent almost two decades developing a dark purple variety that is unusually high in antioxidants, with twice the amount found in blueberries, writes
@JenniferMKahn
Read more:
Using genetic engineering to biofortify crops offer an important opportunity to developing healthy diets. It should not be rejected as it has proven to be a useful tool to complement other breeding programs
@ScienceAlly
The purple tomato was created in order to provide the public with a "nutritionally improved tomatoโ, writes Shruti Kandwal
The developers
@JohnInnesCentre
have been working to get regulatory approval ever since it was completed in 2008
Analysis by
@ProduceBlueBook
๐๐ฟ
The
#BigPurpleTomato
reflects a shift in GMO production: from breeding plants for pest resistance and other characteristics that appeal to growers, to breeding them for consumer appeal
Behold the purple tomato- a new designer super fruit.
Assuming
@USDA
approves their sale in the coming weeks,
#BigPurpleTomato
could be available for the first timeโas seeds you can grow or fruit you can buy at the store, writes
@ctrlzee
๐๐ .
We're honored to have contributed to
@PanCAN
's
#PurpleStride
impactful fundraiser in Raleigh Durham yesterday. Lucas and Mary Francis served antioxidant-rich purple tomato samples to >100 people.
How did people respond?
(Hint-we're more motivated than ever now!)
Wishing everyone a healthy, hopeful start to the New Year!
This challenging year held powerful examples biotechnology's benefits, including this insight from
@ScienceAlly
:
โWe look forward to sensible regulatory frameworks for
#BigPurpleTomato
in the UK, and effective methods to protect our major crops from disease, using genetics instead of chemistry.โ ~
@jonathandgjones
To achieve the desired levels of anthocyanin in our
#GMPurpleTomatoes
, we used genes from 2 plants: Delila (Del) and Rosea1 (Ros1) genes from snapdragon flowers and the MYB12 gene from arabidopsis thaliana.
A purple tomato genetically modified to make it rich in the beneficial pigments found in โsuperfoodsโ such as blueberries could soon go on sale in the US.
Read more:
Our dream of bringing genetically modified (GM) purple tomatoes to the gardens and plates of
#American
home growers has moved a crucial step closer following a decision by
@USDA_APHIS
Finally I am able to see and touch the Golden Beauty. Hope to eat it in my next visit. It is now within reach to Say NO to blindness caused by deficiency of Vitamin A. Unless countries are turning blind to this solution.
#GoldenRice
'Purpleโ tomato fruit genetically engineered to produce anthocyanins, bioactive compounds associated with health benefits. Find out more: Photo credit: JIC Photography
@TheSainsburyLab
"VAD has continued to cause severe illness and death among certain populations worldwide, especially children...totaling 105,700 deaths. Had GR become a part of diets in vulnerable populations worldwide, a portion of these lives might have been saved."
Purple foods keep your heart healthy, kill cancer cells, contain antioxidants called anthocyanins, a plant pigment that gives fruits and vegetables their deep red, purple or blue colour writes
@Boldsky
Our indigo tomato has twice the antioxidants of blueberries, extends the lifespan of cancer prone mice and has anti-inflammatory properties
#BigPurpleTomato
.
sorry Jenny, but there is no scientific basis in fact for the comment you have made here. By all means choose to avoid NPS's purple tomatoes that were improved using the GM method, but please don't spread untrue rumours about the method.
Eating diet that is rich in flavonoidsโnatural compounds found in fruits and vegetables such as berries, apples, tomatoes and peppers can be a great asset in preventing weight gain.
๐ท David Malan/Getty images
Genetically modified purple tomatoes will soon be available in shops in the US.
The tomatoes have purple outer skin and purple inner flesh as well, reports Margaret Wanjiru
@thestarkenya
Thanks to
@ScienceAlly
,
@modestannedi
and the engaged, curious participants in today's webinar for your thoughtful questions about healthy, purple tomatoes!
Scientists all over the world are making amazing discoveries to improve human life. So is the case of
#BigPurpleTomato
, where Prof. Cathie Martin
@JohnInnesCentre
had the goal of creating new sources of healthy
#antioxidants
for peoples diets.
Read more:
The approval of the
#BigPurpleTomato
and response by
#USDA
-APHIS is based on
- familiarity with tomato varieties,
-knowledge of the traits that alter fruit color and nutritional quality,
- understanding of the modifications ๐๐
Our hope is that the
#BigPurpleTomato
will resonate more with consumers- using GMOs for its health benefits, instead of simply increasing crop yields for farmers.
More:
Why increase anthocyanins in
#BigPurpleTomato
, you may ask?
Many independent studies show that antioxidants and anthocyanins can reduce incidence of cancer, improve cardiovascular function and improve health and well-being.
Did you know? The Norfolk Plant Sciences (NPS) has developed genetically modified purple-fleshed tomatoes, to contain the high levels of anti-oxidants and anthocyanins normally found in other fruits?
3 benefits of the
#BigPurpleTomato
include:
1. More nutrition through the antioxidant properties from anthocyanin.
2. Enhanced shelf life.
3. More colorful options for our fruits and vegetables.
Click to read the story of the two passionate scientists that developed the
#BigPurpleTomato
. Their aim was to find ways of developing plants with increased levels of health-giving compounds such as antioxidants.
Anthocyanins are present in almost all higher plants. In tomato, they are only present in the leaves, but not in fruits.
The
#BigPurpleTomato
was developed to contain similar level of anthocyanin to that obtained in most purple coloured fruits.
There is increasing evidence to show that beneficial phytonutrients in plants work much better when consumed within the foods where they occur naturally. Read more about our work on purple tomatoes and health.
Potential health benefits aside, the purple tomatoesโ longer shelf life alone could make them worthwhile, as it could help reduce food waste โ but first, the FDA needs to decide in the fruitsโ favor.
We LOVE this video explainer by
@danielas_bot
on the
#BigPurpleTomatoes
!
Will you eat this purple tomato when they become available at the grocery store?
Retweet for Yes
Like for No
Because tomato is one of the most consumed vegetables all over the world, anthocyanin-enriched tomatoes can provide our diet with the beneficial amount of antioxidants that preventive medicine recommends, writes Sara Colanero.
#BigPurpleTomato
We believe in the power of science to improve humanity.
We also support the rigorous, data-driven process to determine the safety of new technologies, including the
#BigPurpleTomato
.
Sign up to learn more about all our products:
In the past, GM and conventional breeding methods have been used to increase anthocyanin levels in tomato. However the levels of anthocyanins present are significantly lower than in our
#BigPurpleTomato
Read more:
Still on the trending
@nytimes
article and quoting the co-CEO
@agbiome
,
@erward
โPeople think, Well, if youโve got this really strict regulatory system on GMOs, then it must be really dangerous. So it becomes self-reinforcingโ.
GMOs are safe.
AWARD - Professor Cathie Martin has been awarded the prestigious
@RankPrize
for Nutrition for her globally significant research in making fruit and vegetables more nutritious
Some people ask: If you want anthocyanin in your diet, why not just eat blueberries instead of purple tomatoes?
To answer this, it's obvious that Americans prefer to eat more tomatoes than blueberries for the following reasons.
๐งต 1/5
@MBRoberts4004
@jonathandgjones
@JohnInnesCentre
@JenniferMKahn
The purple tomatoes contain higher level of anthocyanins and are not in the market yet. We are working with US regulatory agencies proactively to ensure all necessary approvals are recieved prior to delivering products. Please sign up for updates.
this is beyond stupid. BJ still doesn't get it- he thinks he's having an animal welfare argument with Carrie but in fact he's talking about pig farmers livelihoods, spending money feeding pigs and then not earning anything back when they are culled
"You're not backing down on offending every pig farmer in the country then?"
Tom Newton Dunn puts Boris Johnson on the spot over his row with pig farmers at
#cpc21
.
@tnewtondunn
|
@BorisJohnson
Are you anticipating the release of the
#BigPurpleTomato
seeds and looking forward to planting them in your
#garden
? Well, we are too๐ ๐ .
Head to our website and sign up on to receive updates on
#regulatory
progress and seed release.
The higher level of anthocyanins also doubles the shelf life of the purple tomatoes.
That means the tomatoes should be more environmentally friendly than comparable varieties.
Read more:
The purple the better.
Eating anthocyanin rich plants have stronger health benefits than any other compounds, says Dr Barnard Kiremire of the Faculty of Science, Makerere University.
Prof Cathie Martin and her team
@JohnInnesCentre
has been researching on purple tomato since 2008 as part of a long-term project to improve human health and diets.
The tomato is expected to be commercialized soon.
So if this laboriously genetically engineered tomato contains twice the antioxidants of blueberries, we can just eat some more blueberries, or have some delicious blackberries with our blueberries, to get the same effect. And without any of the risk involved in eating a novel GMO
Do anthocyanins in purple tomatoes reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease?
According to this animal feeding study, consumption of the GM
#BigPurpleTomato
significantly reduced atherosclerosis in mice ๐
As consumers with diverse preferences, we have access to healthy antioxidants and anthocyanins from a diverse array of foods, including the
#BigPurpleTomatoes
.
Learn more: ๐
There are already tomato varieties with purple skins, but the genetically modified purple tomatoes have purple flesh as well. They contain around 10 times more anthocyanins, which are antioxidant pigments.
Read more:
These 10 foods, including the
#BigPurpleTomato
have been improved using GM technology .
Not only does it give us a chance to feed our growing population, but it also offers new ways to face a changing climate.
โIt is the complex profile and synergizing interactions between these different disease-fighting species of anthocyanins that give blueberries their powerful punch.โ
"The approval for commercial propagation of Golden Rice in the Philippines is a major milestone in our fight against vitamin A deficiency not just in the Philippines, but in Bangladesh as well.โ
The
#BigPurpleTomato
would taste as good as the original background it was bred into. Anthocyanins doesn't have any distinct flavor, and the purple colour doesn't affect the taste of the tomatoes.
Studies have shown that increased consumption of tomato-based products (especially cooked tomato products) and other lycopene-containing foods may reduce the occurrence of prostate cancer.
๐ท
@HSPHnutrition
In this interview, Dr. Cathie Martin describes her work on developing healthier fruits and vegetables using GM technology.
#BigPurpleTomato
Happy reading!
What do we know about purple?
Purple both calms and stimulates our bodies, putting us in the right place for introspection and focused insight.
#BigPurpleTomato
๐ท Sensational colours
Did you know?
The
#BigPurpleTomato
was produced by the ectopic expression of two selected transcription factors from the ornamental flower snapdragon.
Read more:
What comes to your mind when you see the colour purple?
It is often associated with royalty, luxury, power, ambition, wealth, extravagance, creativity, wisdom, pride, mystery, independence, and magic.
#BigPurpleTomato
๐๐
As a plant secondary metabolite, anthocyanins belong to the class of polyphenols, and play beneficial role in preventing and treating important human diseases.
#BigPurpleTomato
Many independent studies show that antioxidants and anthocyanins can reduce incidence of cancer, improve cardiovascular function and improve health and well-being.
#BigPurpleTomato
.
The
#CASTCommentary
, "Gains Foregone by Going GMO Free: Potential Impacts on Consumers, the Environment, and Agricultural Producers," will be available November 15.
The free webinar and Q&A panel will be on November 16.
Details here:
โWe are now one step closer to my dream of sharing healthy purple tomatoes with the many people excited to eat them,โ ~Cathie Martin, the developer of the
#BigPurpleTomato
"The antioxidant capacity in tomato purple fruits is higher than in non-anthocyanin tomatoes and their healthy role has already been demonstrated in both in vitro and in vivo studies."