science

In 2021 Japan began selling a gene-edited tomato bred to contain high levels of GABA, a compound linked to relaxation and lower blood pressure.

Which gene-editing tool was used to create this tomato?

Q: Which gene-editing tool was used to create this tomato?

CRISPR. The Sicilian Rouge High GABA tomato, edited with CRISPR-Cas9, was among the first gene-edited foods sold directly to consumers. CRISPR can make precise changes in years that traditional crossbreeding might never reliably achieve.

CRISPR ✓
Pasteurization
Electrolysis

CRISPR
The Sicilian Rouge High GABA tomato, edited with CRISPR-Cas9, was among the first gene-edited foods sold directly to consumers. CRISPR can make precise changes in years that traditional crossbreeding might never reliably achieve.

CRISPR was the gene-editing tool used to create this GABA-rich tomato, allowing scientists to make a precise, targeted change to the plant's own genes rather than introducing genetic material from another species. This precision let breeders boost the tomato's natural GABA content, a compound linked to relaxation and lower blood pressure, far faster than traditional crossbreeding could ever achieve.

Pasteurization is a heat treatment used to kill harmful microbes in food and drink, a food-safety process with nothing to do with altering a plant's genetics. Electrolysis uses electric current to drive chemical reactions, a technique used in industries like metal refining, unrelated to gene editing in crops.

This tomato, sold in Japan starting in 2021, was notable not just for its edited trait but for being among the very first gene-edited foods marketed directly to everyday consumers rather than staying confined to research fields.

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