The research comes from a team of scientists from the UK and Europe who fed the genetically modified purple tomatoes to mice that were bred to be susceptible to cancer. Their life span was significantly extended in comparison to those fed ordinary tomatoes.
Cathie Martin and colleagues took genes from the snapdragon family and inserted them into tomato plants to grow plants high in anthocyanins, which appear to protect against certain cancers, cardiovascular disease, age-related degenerative diseases, diabetes and obesity.
Researchers chose tomatoes because they are already high in the antioxidant lycopene.
