In Spain 2024, tomatoes don’t taste like much, but in Albacete they live in 2124: welcome to “Tomafran”


It looks like a normal tomato. Which smells and tastes like saffron, yes; But it wants to be much more. Because as much as saffron is one of the jewels in La Manche’s crown, no one uses some advanced genetic engineering technology to create a “curious” tomato.

It looks like an ordinary tomato, but it wants to be a weapon against Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and dozens of other neurodegenerative diseases. And, besides, it seems to taste good.

Was the saffron hidden? Because saffron is not only one of the most valuable products on the planet, it is a complete product Compounds with neuroprotective properties. things like Crocinuswhich has “beneficial health effects for the prevention and treatment of many diseases” such as cognitive dysfunction or memory problems.

Lourdes GomezThe genetics professor at UCLM who is behind it all, I commented a few years agoThese properties are well known about saffron. And not only for the treatment of “a variety of diseases associated with neurodegenerative problems such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or dementia,” but also for “the cure of new diseases (such as) the development of tumors such as brain tumors.”

They don't look like the best in the world, but these tomatoes are looking to revolutionize the way most parts of the world fight Parkinson's

The obvious problem is that saffron is expensive. Too expensive. So they began to think of ideas to make these compounds in other ways, and over time, They encountered tomatoes. They discovered that a new plant could be created “through the synthesis of the pigments that give saffron its color and smell.”

“We took three saffron genes, and one selection gene, and we put in a promoter that just acts as a switch, telling the genes where to express. That way, the genes are only expressed in the saffron fruit. Don’t bother the tomato and the plant, which allows it to grow naturally,” Explained by Osama AhrazemA researcher in Gomez’s lab.

A crocina factory and more. Because the benefits don’t just stop there A “result” is tomato (and even less so in places like the European Union where getting approval for transgenic products is very complicated), but these tomato plants make it possible to cheaply produce things that, once processed, can be used as supplements.

the new normal Although, as I say, it is more difficult for us in Europe to get them, these types of products (“genetically enriched”) will become a central component of the diet and health of half the world. So much so that, when some of these products are banned, the scandal becomes international.

But as we see, this is just the beginning.

Picture | Life expectancy is infiniteVera Dey

In BDtechsupport | They don’t look like the best in the world, but these tomatoes are looking to revolutionize the way most parts of the world fight Parkinson’s