Purple tomatoes kill cancer

Thanks to genetic engineering, British scientists created "super tomatoes" capable of repelling cancer cells.

Purple tomatoes, also known as "super tomatoes", have the same flavor as regular tomatoes, but there are two more genes that produce dark pigments of dog muzzle flowers. These pigments have antioxidant properties that can fight many diseases, including cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

John Innes Research Center in Norwich (UK) - which produces purple tomatoes - believes that their invention caused a shift in opinion about genetically modified products.

Purple tomatoes and red tomato plants.Photo: Daily Mail.

"Super tomatoes" are rich in anthocyanins, a common pigment group in raspberries and cranberry trees. Chemicals belonging to the anthocyanin group are capable of destroying harmful oxidizing molecules in the body. In nature, they are produced by tomato plants, but they are only found on leaves.

Scientists at the John Innes Research Center put the two genes to make black pigments from the muzzle of the dog to tomatoes through a bacterium.

Professor Cathie Martin, who led the study, said the cancer mice lived longer when they ate purple tomatoes. Experts will continue to test the effect of "super tomatoes" on prostate cancer patients.