what are the good and the bad things about fish DNA in tomatoes?

Expert response from Community Manager

Moderator for GMOAnswers.com

Friday, 11/12/2015 13:13

While there are many images online featuring “fishy” tomatoes, there are in fact no GM tomatoes commercially available today (that means there are also no GM tomatoes commercially available with fish DNA inside of them).

There is quite a bit of misinformation about GM crops on the Internet – particularly that there is “spooky” Fish DNA in tomatoes - that is designed to mislead and scare consumers. In this response, we’ll clear up some of the misinformation provide you with the top three things you need to know about the mythical “GMO fish tomato”:

1. There was once an experimental tomato that contained a gene from the winter flounder to increase the tomato's resistance to frost, but that tomato was never commercialized. Fran Castle helped answer a similar question about animal DNA in tomatoes here.
2. No commercial GM crops on the market today contain “animal genes.” DNA from any source is made up of the same four basic nucleotide building blocks: adenine (A), cytosine (C), thymine (T) and guanine (G), and it’s estimated that 60 percent of the genes in plants have very similar copies in animals. Although no GM crops on the market today contain “animal genes,” there is nothing inherently unsafe about using fish DNA (or any other animal DNA) in a plant. Learn more about DNA and animal genes here.
3. There aren’t any GM tomatoes on the market. The Flavr Savr tomato was the first GM food crop to be available commercially in the United States in 1994. It was created to be less perishable. Weak harvests and costly shipping methods combined to create an unprofitable tomato. As a result, the Flavr Savr tomato was commercialized for only three years, and is no longer on the market. Learn more here.

Did you know that there are only nine GM crops commercially available? In addition to these nine crops, a GM apple has been approved to be grown and will be coming to market soon.

Expert response from Community Manager

Moderator for GMOAnswers.com

Friday, 11/12/2015 13:13

While there are many images online featuring “fishy” tomatoes, there are in fact no GM tomatoes commercially available today (that means there are also no GM tomatoes commercially available with fish DNA inside of them).

There is quite a bit of misinformation about GM crops on the Internet – particularly that there is “spooky” Fish DNA in tomatoes - that is designed to mislead and scare consumers. In this response, we’ll clear up some of the misinformation provide you with the top three things you need to know about the mythical “GMO fish tomato”:

1. There was once an experimental tomato that contained a gene from the winter flounder to increase the tomato's resistance to frost, but that tomato was never commercialized. Fran Castle helped answer a similar question about animal DNA in tomatoes here.
2. No commercial GM crops on the market today contain “animal genes.” DNA from any source is made up of the same four basic nucleotide building blocks: adenine (A), cytosine (C), thymine (T) and guanine (G), and it’s estimated that 60 percent of the genes in plants have very similar copies in animals. Although no GM crops on the market today contain “animal genes,” there is nothing inherently unsafe about using fish DNA (or any other animal DNA) in a plant. Learn more about DNA and animal genes here.
3. There aren’t any GM tomatoes on the market. The Flavr Savr tomato was the first GM food crop to be available commercially in the United States in 1994. It was created to be less perishable. Weak harvests and costly shipping methods combined to create an unprofitable tomato. As a result, the Flavr Savr tomato was commercialized for only three years, and is no longer on the market. Learn more here.

Did you know that there are only nine GM crops commercially available? In addition to these nine crops, a GM apple has been approved to be grown and will be coming to market soon.