Genetically modified purple tomatoes receive US approval

The US Department of Agriculture has approved a new genetically modified purple tomato. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s regulatory status review states that the plant ‘may be safely grown and used in breeding in the [US]’.

The ‘nutritionally enhanced’ purple tomatoes were created by the UK’s first GM crop company, Norfolk Plant Sciences (NPS). The company is a spinout created by Norwich-based researchers Cathie Martin from the John Innes Centre and Jonathan Jones from the Sainsbury Laboratory.