Agriculture topic · Crops

Gene-edited tomatoes

A GABA-enriched tomato sold in Japan from 2021 was among the first gene-edited foods to reach consumers anywhere.

Approved

Approved treatment At least one medicine using this approach has been authorised by a national regulator for this use.

Explication simple

A Japanese company edited tomatoes to accumulate more GABA, a compound associated with relaxation, by disabling the brake on an enzyme the plant already has. The tomatoes went on sale in 2021 — among the first edited foods sold to the public. Purple tomatoes with higher anthocyanin content have also reached the US market.

Aller plus loin

Sicilian Rouge High GABA, developed by Sanatech Seed using CRISPR-Cas9 to truncate the autoinhibitory domain of glutamate decarboxylase, was notified to Japanese authorities in 2021 and sold directly to consumers. It required no pre-market approval under Japan's framework because no foreign DNA was introduced. Health claims for dietary GABA are not established, which is a separate question from the safety of the food itself.

Sources

Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
Sanatech Seed GABA tomato ↗

Written by The CRISPR Atlas editorial team Last updated Aug 25, 2026

Faits essentiels

Country	Japan
First sold	2021
Change made	Disabled the brake on an enzyme the plant already produces
Regulatory route	Notification, not pre-market approval — no foreign DNA introduced
Health claims	Benefits of dietary GABA are not established

Agriculture

Gene-edited crops

Citer cette page

The CRISPR Atlas. “Gene-edited tomatoes.” Updated Aug 25, 2026. https://crisprdecoded.com/agriculture/gene-edited-tomatoes

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Agriculture

Gene-edited crops

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