Comments on: Genetically Engineered Purple Tomato Could Fight Cancer

By: AK

AK — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:39:03 +0000

These tomatoes are NOT engineered “to fight cancer” – they are engineered to contain anthocyanins which are already present in lots of other foods, where they presently already “fight cancer” (a highly oversimplistic view of what an anthocyanin does, btw). What makes us think that transferring it to the tomato plant is going to magically cure cancer? It will, at best, do as well as natural blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, eggplants, purple heirloom potatoes, etc. At worst, the genetic remodeling of the plant may have unintended consequences that may cause it to be an unhealthy or unthrifty crop, and it may also cross-pollinate with our biological tomatoes. We have so many varieties of heirloom crops and healthy foods that people do not consider when we talk about health, but since these are not patentable, they are not aggressively marketed, as these GM foods are. By accepting this crop we also surrender another piece of our foodchain to the big-ag businesses whose goal is to control the food supply entirely. See http://www.gmwatch.org/gm-myths/11122-purple-tomato-can-beat-cancer

By: Jumblepudding

Jumblepudding — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:01:31 +0000

Keep these tomatoes under lock and key if you grow them-if mice start eating them they’ll live forever.

By: Sue Brady

Sue Brady — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 21:49:26 +0000

How can I buy these seeds to grow for my own use? Thnks

By: Curious

Curious — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:58:38 +0000

But i want a killer tomato!!…:)

By: Jimmy Lavergne

Jimmy Lavergne — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:17:21 +0000

Please forward info on how purple tomatoes may be purchased

By: Tomek

Tomek — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:42:25 +0000

maybe in general gmo food should be rigged to have different colors then natural for that type of plant. That way, it’d be easier to tell what has been gmo’ed what hasnt. not a perfect solution (this is for like farmers field) but an idea.

By: Rick

Rick — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:42:33 +0000

how can i get the puple tomatoes or seeds , in usa

thanks

Rick

By: Gusman

Gusman — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:56:32 +0000

Hi there, I would Love to start a greenhouse of these purple tomatoes. I have lots of land that would love to use it for the help research, and help fight Cancer.

By: andrew

andrew — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 13:37:14 +0000

> I was not allowed to cut them

the photo suggests you’re going to have some explaining to do monday morning

By: u_gene

u_gene — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:38:42 +0000

Emily! At the moment we are not even allowed to move the tomatoes from our greenhouse. I needed a special authorization just to bring a couple of fruits (not the plants) to London and I was not allowed to cut them …”to avoid accidental release of seeds”! As I said, they are just “research tools” at the moment and, with the widespread hostility around GMO in Europe, they are likely to stay like that for many years.

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:47:56 +0000

u-gene….is this new purple tomato that contain anthocyanins available to home gardners? If so, where? If not, when? Thanks

By: u_gene

u_gene — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:20:50 +0000

Hi there,
…just to let you know that they taste like natural, red tomatoes (they are “research tools”, not new superfood,btw). No unpleasant or bitter taste. Many natural “purple” varieties (like Cherokee Purple) do not contain anthocyanins. Their colour (more brownish than purple)is due to high lycopene content and persistent (not broken down) chlorophille. Thanx for your interest. I am one of the authors.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:53:21 +0000

“Do they still taste like tomatoes? Would people want to actually eat them, or would you eat one a day like a medicine, or a shot of robitussin…” If you have cancer, I doubt you’d care too much about what it tastes like. But it is still an interesting question nonetheless. Perhaps they’d be good for everyone.

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:22:15 +0000

It is not “the first example of a GMO [genetically modified organism] with a trait that really offers a potential benefit for all consumers”. GMO rice exists that has been modified to produce beta-carotene, a source of vitamin A that naturally occurs in carots. The rice, called golden rice, is a yellow color. More information is available at goldenrice.org.
Quoting from their website “In developing countries 500,000 people, mainly children, become blind every year, 50% of whom die within a year of becoming blind. Nearly nine million children die of malnutrion every year. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) severely affects the immune system, hence it is involved in many of these children’s deaths in the guise of multiple diseases.”

By: Anastasia

Anastasia — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 06:02:21 +0000

Anna, I agree! Finally a GMO we can sink our teeth into :)
I can’t wait to make salsa with them.
This article doesn’t answer a lot of the questions raised by this research.
For example, in the paper, the researchers say that boosting anthocyanin levels in heirloom varieties wasn’t able to get the levels high enough (as Emily says, they are more brownish red than purple).
In my blog, Genetic Maize, I’ve attempted to answer those questions as well as raise some new ones. You’re welcome to come on over if you’d like more info.
http://www.geneticmaize.com/2008/10/purple-tomatoes/