Genetically Engineered Tomatoes Fight Birth Defects and Anemia

By Michelle Fabio

Scientists have come up with a way to infuse a full day’s worth of folate, a vitamin essential for healthy growth during early pregnancy, into a single tomato serving.

The tomato was developed at the University of Florida at Gainesville by Andrew Hanson and Jesse Gregory. “This could potentially be beneficial worldwide,” said Hanson. “Now that we’ve shown it works in tomatoes, we can work on applying it to cereals and crops for less developed countries where folate deficiencies are a very serious problem.”

In children, folate deficiencies have been linked to birth defects, slow growth rates and developmental problems, while in adults, low folate levels have been associated with anemia.
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