ExclusivePurple Tomatoes_ Are They Safe_ Testing Genetic Modification

Now this article goes on to describe the six areas which were used to test this. The straightforward tests analyzed that there was an insertion of foreign DNA, that the purple phenotype was inheritable, that most of the nutritional components are similar to a traditional tomato, and Nick concluded that the level of dietary exposure to anthocyanins is the same as consuming high anthocyanin foods. For example, consuming 8 ounces of purple tomato juice is equivalent to consuming one cup of blueberries. Now in the more controversial tests, it was found that bioinformatic analyses were utilized to determine if any open reading frames were generated or disrupted by inserting the foreign DNA. In the second part, the company identified one putative peptoid, but this peptide supposedly has no known allergen. That's one of the biggest concerns about genetic modification. New allergens can be created because of high concentration of different substances, and that can make it quite dangerous. For example, a study published in Nature in 1999 reported that bean plants were genetically modified to produce higher levels of methionine and cysteine, but were discarded.