https://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/pocketk/2/default.

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https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11240-014-0664-4#ref-CR70

Like all technologies, biotechnology offers the potential of enormous benefit but also potential
risks. Biotechnology could help address many global problems, such as climate change, an aging
society, food security, energy security and infectious diseases, to name just a few.

Biotechnology, like other technologies, has huge potential benefits as well as risks. Climate
change, an ageing population, food security, energy security, and infectious diseases are only a
few of the global issues that biotechnology might help solve. Up

Delayed-ripening tomato
The delayed-ripening tomato became the first genetically modified food crop to be produced in a
developed country. These tomatoes spend more days on the vine than other tomatoes, thus
resulting in better flavor. Furthermore, the longer shelf life has commercial advantages in
harvesting and shipping that can reduce the costs of production. *Approved (for import or
cultivation) in the following countries: China, Canada, Mexico, and the USA.

Resistance to biotic stresses

Folate (all forms of vitamin B) is essential for numerous bodily functions, such as regulating cell
growth and functioning, and also has positive effect on the nervous system and brain. Moreover,
it participates in maintaining the genetic material in the transmission of hereditary cell
characteristics, regulating their distribution; it improves the digestive system, and is involved in
the formation of gastric juice for the efficient operation of the liver, stomach and intestines; it
stimulates hematopoiesis, i.e. the formation of red blood cells; and protects the body against
cancer (particularly cancer of the uterus). Folate deficiency leads to neural tube defects in
developing embryos and other human diseases including diarrhea, macrocytic anemia,
neuropathy, mental confusion, pregnancy complications, different kind of cancers, etc. (Bailey
2010). Because the human body cannot synthesize folate de novo, it has to be supplied through
diet. A potential source of folate are leafy vegetables (e.g. spinach, broccoli,
cabbage), but in folate occurs slightly smaller quantities in tomatoes, lentils,
beets, sunflowers, etc. In plants, folates are synthesized from pteridine p-
aminobenzoate (PABA) and glutamate precursors (de la Garza et al. 2007).
Because folate is very important for human health and plants are known as one of the major
source of folate, some attempts to enhance plants’ folate levels have been undertaken (Raiola et
al. 2014).

Tomato plants are used not only for production of vaccines or antibodies, but also for the
production of other recombinant proteins such as miraculin.

Conclusion
Since the tomato (S. lycopersicum L.) was imported to Europe in the 16th century, it has become
one of the most important vegetables around the world. Recently, interest in the tomato has
significantly increased because of its nutritional values as well as its anti-cancer and anti-
oxidative properties. In this review, we looked into new insights from recent developments in
tomato biotechnology. Generally, it is known that traditional methods for improving tomatoes are
time-consuming and troublesome due to breeding times. For this reason, it is necessary to
develop efficient methods for the in vitro regeneration of different varieties of tomato. This
would make a prerequisite step for further modification of tomato genome. Since more than
10,000 tomato varieties exist, it seems obvious that establishment of one universal protocol for
regeneration is rather impossible since it would require very extensive analytical research on the
physiological and genetic background of tomatoes’ regeneration capacity. At present, it seems
more likely to establish a tissue culture protocol for select commercially important tomato
cultivars preceded by wide screening of their regeneration potential. According to numerous data
outlined in this review, the in vitro culture of tomatoes has been successfully used in different
biotechnological applications. It should be pointed out that different genotypes of tomato are
characterized by diverse morphogenic potential, and unfortunately there are some reports
describing their partial recalcitrance or total inability to respond to in vitro cultures. Therefore,
improvement of existing regeneration protocols is still required. Despite various difficulties,
currently a procedure of successful stable Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of tomato
plants has been achieved. In the light of the numerous data presented here, genetic engineering
has opened amazing opportunities for tomato plant improvement. So far, transgenic tomato lines
have been generated with enhanced resistance for wide range of stresses, including abiotic and
biotic ones. This has become possible through the overexpression several genes or TFs.
Additionally, understanding the underlying physiological process in response to different stresses
could help in determining what promoter or TFs would be appropriate to use for transformation.
It should be pointed out that constantly expending knowledge regarding the physiological and
genetics basis of stress tolerance, along with genetic transformation technologies, could allow for
essential progress in the development of tomato cultivars with improving stress tolerance.
Moreover, using GM technology, researchers are able to obtain tomato fruits with improved
nutritional and organoleptic values. Finally, the credibility of the use of tomatoes in molecular
farming has been proven beyond all doubt. Although promising achievements in tomato
engineering, the culture of GM tomato face serious problems in most leading producer countries.
The cultivation of GM tomatoes was stopped in the USA in 2002, so only China remains a
producer of GM tomatoes. The main reason for this seems to be a negative opinion of the public
towards GM plants. There is a general belief that GM crops are harmful for human health as well
as the environment. Therefore, one of the tasks of the scientific community is not only the
production of GM crops, but also educate the public about the benefits they bring to us. It should
be pointed out that broad research has provided no evidence that transgenic crops cause a
greater risk to human or animal health than stereotyped crops. The Federal Office of Consumer
Protection and Food Safety of Germany and partners published the BEETLE (Biological and
Ecological Evaluation towards Long-term Effects) report to provide scientific data (reviewed over
100 publications) to the European Commission (FOCPFS 2009). The BEETLE report gave clear
evidence that, so far, no adverse effect to human health from eating GM plants have been found.
Furthermore, although unexpected harmful effects are known, none have appeared in GM
plants. Additionally, to convince consumers about GM plants, the use of marker-free transgenic
plants (e.g. deprived of resistance of herbicides or antibiotic) could be a good argument. The
continuously expanding knowledge of genomics of tomatoes’ wild relative species, including
knowledge about e.g. introgression of genetic information from related species into cultivated
tomato, would significantly limit the risk of harmful effects on human or animal health or on the
environment.

Although GM tomatoes are promising for improving the quality of human life, their potential has
been seldom validated in field trials. Such trials as well as BEETLE report have to be expanded and
their results have to be provided to society in order to raise awareness. It is only if the safety of
GM crops and the benefits they bring to breeders and consumers, that biotechnology-derived
plants will contribute to the success of their development