Mice Fed Genetically Altered Tomatoes Have Less Inflammation, Atherosclerosis

Researchers who fed mice genetically engineered tomatoes that produce a small peptide that mimics the action of the chief protein in HDL (“good” cholesterol) found that the animals had less inflammation and arterial plaque build up. The mice, bred to lack the ability to eliminate “bad” cholesterol from their blood, were subject to inflammation and atherosclerosis. The U.S. researchers said it was the first example of “a drug with these properties that has been produced in an edible plant and is biologically active when fed without any isolation or purification of the drug.”