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Now, with all we're all familiar with
the health benefits of eating fruit and
veg, but what if scientists could make
your five a day even healthier? That's
the plan at one research center in
Norwich here in England, where tomatoes
are being genetically altered to include
more vitamin D. Nikki Fox has the story.
On the outside and on the inside, these
tomatoes look and taste like any other.
But in green houses in Norolk, they've
been bred to contain something that many
lack, vitamin D. Researchers believe
there's enough in four to meet an
adult's daily requirement. Why tomatoes?
Because it's relatively easy to do it,
and it wouldn't have worked in other
vegetables such as broccoli or cabbage.
And lots and lots of people eat
tomatoes, even tomato pastes and uh
pizzas and and ketchup.
Gene editing switches individual genes
on and off by snipping out a section of
DNA. Doing this in the tomato means a
substance can build up because the gene
that stops it is turned off. It's that
substance or provitamin that when
exposed to light turns into vitamin D.
For the first time, 76 people are
testing genetically edited foods in
clinical trials. The tomatoes are
frozen, then freeze-dried and added to
soup. So, what's the problem they're
trying to solve?
In summertime, uh, just through exposure
to sunlight, we can make enough of our
own vitamin D. But in winter time, when
the sun is lower, we don't get the UV
rays coming through, and you don't make
enough of your own vitamin D. And you've
got to get it from a food source.
Traditionally, that food source would be
oily fish, eggs, but of course, a lot of
those foods are not necessarily
palatable to everybody.
Participants wear a UV necklace to check
it's the tomatoes, not the sun, giving
them vitamin D. The results go straight
to researchers. But it's not just
tomatoes, that could be changing. In two
months, product developers will be able
to apply to the Food Standards Agency to
have their genetically edited food
marketed. It's expected the first could
go on sale next year and it could mean
anything from sweeter lettucees to
strawberries that last longer. But some
people do have concerns.
There are no longer requirements to
label these geneedited precision bred
GMOs. Now that removes consumers rights
to know what they're buying. It makes it
difficult for organic farmers who must
legally keep all GMOs out of their
supply chain. So the fact that they are
not labeled and the fact that they are
not traceable creates problems for
everybody except the biotech industry.
Scientists in Norwich say they do want
people to know what they're eating. So
are breeding a new type of tomato.
We kind of want them labeled so that
consumers have a choice. And we think
that this uh variation which gives a
stripey color, it looks a bit like a
sunrise or a sunset and it's uh that
relates to the vitamin D content which
is because it's called the sunshine
vitamin. Campaigners say genetically
edited food won't be traceable if
something goes wrong. But the government
argues it can boost food security and
improve disease resistance. is backing
the technology with a multi-million
pound investment.
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