Tomatoes with enhanced antioxidant properties created with
genetic engineering
New
research has identified a way to make tomatoes healthier by boosting
antioxidant properties. Scientists
manipulated the plant isoprenoid pathway to overexpress HMGS in tomatoes. They were able to find that this increased
phytosterols, squalene, provitamin A and lycopene, but also vitamin E by
494%. The HMGS DNA was found in the
Indian mustard plant that yields edible leaves, stems and seeds. This DNA exhibits higher enzyme activity by
ten times. When the genes were
introduced into tomatoes, they found that they were able to simultaneously enhance
vitamin E and provitamin A. There were
no differences in size and appearance of tomatoes, but the total carotenoids
increased drastically. There was also a
deeper color of carotenoid extracts with higher antioxidant activity.
This is
very important for the future as our populations continue to grow and the earth
becomes more crowded. Scientists must
find new sustainable ways to feed millions of people. It is also important that they receive the
vitamins and nutrients that they need to survive. I think this field of research is very
important as we are already overexploiting our resources in the current
day. Soon, our normal tomatoes will run
out and we need foods that are able to sustain large populations. A sustainable agriculture business is
important to a healthy future. It is
good to be researching how we can improve our produce as people will likely want
these products in the future. HMGS is
also used in rubber production and an article discusses how it can be
used.
