How is MacGregor tomato is genetically engineered? For what purpose has it been modified. ?

How is MacGregor tomato is genetically engineered? For what purpose has it been modified. ?|||Here is more than you wanted to know'





1 Pick up a MacGregor tomato at the store, and you


can see a sticker saying it is grown from genetically modified seed, and nearby you will see some brochures


explaining the genetic process used in making this tomato so that it can ripen slower and not become mushy on


store shelves.





(Sharon Tisher, University of Maine Resource Economist) I am very impressed by what Hall Gene, which is the


manufacturer of the MacGregor tomato, has done as far as labeling. It does not go quite as far as the bill that was


proposed in the Maine Legislature would have required.That bill would have required that the source of the


genetic material that is added, i.e., a bacteria in the case of the MacGregor tomato-be identified specifically and


that the reasons for that introduction be stated.


(Kate Arno, Segment Host) Monsanto recently bought shares of the company that developed the MacGregor


tomato.





One of the unique features of this new tomato is that in every single one of its cells a new antibiotic resistant


gene has been introduced. Some scientists wonder whether we really want to consume food that is resistant to


common antibiotics.





2. MacGregor Tomato by Calgene Fresh of Evanston, Ill. It bears a lab-made antisense copy of the tomato's putrefaction gene. This new antisense gene, which cancels out the activity of the normal version, prolongs ripeness, so the fruit can be harvested late, when it is most delicious.








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Dr. Belinda Martineau, was one of the biologists working on this project at Calgene, Inc., the California-based biotech company that created the famous tomato. In her firsthand account, Dr. Martineau traces the making of the MacGregor tomato from its prototype in 1988 to its actual appearance on grocery shelves in the spring of 1994. She further explains why, only two years after the MacGregor tomato鈥檚 well-received debut, its production was permanently stopped. The reader gets caught up in the intrigue, heartbreaks, and successes of the scientists who tried to create the perfect tomato. Dr. Martineau turns this scientific report into a very interesting history lesson.