Seed of a British-bred tomato genetically modified to produce enhanced levels of the health-promoting purple pigment anthocyanin could be available to home gardeners in the USA by next spring.
United States Department of Agriculture regulators have told Norfolk Plant Sciences the variety won’t be subject to regulations limiting the movement of modified organisms because the tomato is no more a risk as a ‘plant pest’ than a comparative variety which has been bred by conventional means.
The tomato has been modified by inserting two genes from antirrhinums, which sees the purple colouration extended to the fruit’s flesh, rather than limited to its skin.
Jonathan Jones of The Sainsbury Laboratory founded Norfolk Plant Sciences 15 years ago with Cathie Martin of the John Innes Centre.
Professor Jones said: “We never thought it would take so long to obtain regulatory approval.
“This is a red-letter day for crop improvement. We look forward to sensible regulatory frameworks for such products in the UK, and effective methods to protect our major crops from disease, using genetics instead of chemistry.”
Professor Martin is behind another tomato which has been gene-edited – where, unlike modification technology, no new genetic material is introduced – to produce vitamin D, which could help people who are deficient in the vitamin.
New legislation which will make it easier for genetically edited plants to be released, and food from them marketed, in England, is currently before Parliament.