---
title: "Company Claims Gene-Edited Tomato Contains Neurotransmitter"
description: "A new \"genome-edited\" tomato variety is being sold to Japanese customers as a way to chill out and is a first made with CRISPR technology."
date: "2022-01-01"
modified: "2022-01-06"
authors:
  - name: "Lonnie Lee Hood"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/ahood"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/japan-gmo-tomato-psychoactive"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "dna editing"
  - "gmo"
  - "Japan"
  - "the digest"
---

# Company Claims Gene-Edited Tomato Contains Neurotransmitter

![A new "genome-edited" tomato variety is being sold to Japanese customers as a way to chill out and is a first made with CRISPR technology.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/japan-gmo-tomato-psychoactive.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Getty / Futurism \</em\>*

## CRISPR Drawer

Not every ripe, red tomato is the same. Some are used in soups, some in salads, and some — allegedly — for lowering blood pressure, fighting anxiety, and helping sleep.

According [to *Scientific American*](<https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/crispr-edited-tomatoes-are-supposed-to-help-you-chill-out/>), the new gene-hacked tomato variety is being sold to Japanese customers as a way to chill out, and is the first food on the open market made with CRISPR–Cas9 technology.

The tomatoes are genetically modified to pack high levels of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a neurotransmitter which Tokyo-based Sanatech Seed claims can support lower blood pressure and promote relaxation.

"GABA is a famous health-promoting compound in Japan. It’s like vitamin C," Hiroshi Ezura, chief technology officer at Sanatech and a plant molecular biologist at the University of Tsukuba, told *SciAm*. "That’s why we chose this as our first target for our genome editing technology."

## Reality Check

The problem, according to *SciAm*, is there aren't really solid studies proving that GABA does what Sanatech claims. The company cites two human studies — a [2003 paper](<https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601555>) on the effect of fermented milk with GABA and a [2009 paper](<https://doi.org/10.3164/jcbn.09-04>) of the effects of GABA, vinegar and dried bonito. Both were conducted in consumers with mild hypertension and showed effects of reducing blood pressure. But *SciAm* says the studies lacked trustworthy control groups, and that the effects could've come from another source.

Skeptics have been writing about the GABA tomato since it was first[ introduced and approved for sale](<https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Science/Japan-approves-gene-edited-super-tomato.-But-will-anyone-eat-it>) in 2020. Some analyses are [more positive about potential benefits](<https://www.freethink.com/science/gene-edited-tomato>), but in general the consensus is still out.

Will Sanatech prove its promise of helping customers sleep and lower their blood pressure? There's only way way to find out: wait and see.

*Updated terminology used to refer to GABA.*

**More on modified food:** [*After Two Decades of GMOs, Scientists Find They Live Up to Their Promise*](<https://futurism.com/two-decades-scientists-gmos-corn-good-seriously>)