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NEWS

Senesco Technologies, Inc. increases shelf life of tomato
Princeton, New Jersey
Jul 5, 2000

Senesco Technologies, Inc. announced today that it has demonstrated the efficacy of its gene technology by creating an improved tomato fruit. The result of this major development is a tomato fruit with significantly extended shelf life and other valuable characteristics. 

Altering gene expression has yielded tomatoes with a thirty to forty day shelf life, while tomatoes without altered gene expression last only fifteen to twenty days. In addition, this change in gene expression gives rise to larger plants with the potential to produce more fruit. 

John E. Thompson, Ph.D., Executive Vice-President of Research and Development, commented, "Our results are extraordinary. In addition to results in Arabidopsis plants (Arabidopsis thaliana), announced on February 17, 2000, we now have validation in a commercially valuable crop that reducing the expression of the DHS gene confers significant resistance to spoilage, thereby extending shelf life. We are eager to apply our technology to other commercially valuable plants now that we have demonstrated its efficacy in a major horticultural crop." 

Senesco's technology intercedes once ripening is complete and spoilage is about to begin. This ensures that taste, texture and other features will not change, which was a major difficulty encountered in previous attempts to engineer a tomato with extended shelf life. 

Consistent with the Company's commercialization strategy, Senesco is engaged in discussions with several companies interested in entering into licensing agreements and strategic relationships for the use of the Company's technology in fruits, flowers, vegetables and agronomic crops. 

Senesco is an agrobiotechnology company whose mission is to enhance crop quality and productivity through the control of senescence (aging) which will result in longer shelf life and increased crop yield. The Company is based in Princeton, New Jersey. 

Company news release
N2802

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