In preliminary findings, a team of researchers has developed a tomato that packs a greater nutritional punch than one that is grown conventionally. The tomato has more than twice as much of the antioxidant lycopene and a longer shelf life, according to researchers with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Wired News delivered to your inbox or hand-held device. For Thought GM Food Fights at Full Boil Check yourself into Med-Tech Antioxidants are compounds that prevent free radicals from damaging cells.
Free radicals are natural byproducts of the metabolic process.
The tomato has been modified to include a gene from yeast. Scientists reconstructed the gene in a test tube so that it would be switched on during the ripening process, thereby slowing the amount of time it takes a tomato to mature. A slower ripening process allows more time for lycopene to accumulate. Mattoo stressed that his findings have not yet been published and it will be years before consumers can buy the genetically modified fruit in stores. Still, the findings come in the midst of a fierce global debate over the potential health risks and environmental impact of genetically modified foods.