CRISPR Tomatoes!

By deleted two genes using the gene editing technology CRISPR/Cas9, scientists build a sweeter, more succulent tomato

For those of us, me included, who are fed up with the tasteless supermarket tomatoes, enter the gene-edited variety. Scientists in China compared the genomes of cultivated tomato species and found genes in each that encode for a protein that degrades enzymes responsible for sugar production. Using CRISPR/Cas9, they deactivated the two genes and found that the plants bore fruit much sweeter than that of the widely cultivated variety.

In findings published this week in Nature, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing showed how deleted the genes increased the engineered fruits' glucose and fructose levels by up to 30% over mass-produced tomatoes.

The gene-edited tomatoes weigh the same as those found in grocery stores, and they produce as much fruit as current varieties.

To read more about this research check out the news story in Nature.