Scientists have come up with a tasty way to lower bad cholesterol. All it takes is a helping of genetically modified tomatoes.
The more positive side of genetic modification (GM) of foodstuffs was presented yesterday at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting in Los Angeles.
Companies have been modifying food crops for years but mainly to deliver benefits such as insect and fungus resistance, attributes of little interest to the consumer.
Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, modified the tomatoes so the plant could produce an experimental drug for use against bad cholesterol and clogged arteries.
The drug, which is a peptide, is the first of its kind made in a plant that can be eaten, the researchers, led by Prof Alan Fogelman, told the meeting.
The drug mimics one of the effects caused by good cholesterol in helping to clear out bad cholesterol.
Strict science did not, however, dictate his choice of the tomato, Prof Fogelman acknowledged – he just likes them. The team could just as well have used any fruit or vegetable.