Blue roses to go on sale in 2009
Tuesday, February 5, 2008 at 05:41 EST

TOKYO �EThe Japanese company that created the world's first genetically modified blue roses said Monday it will start selling them next year. Suntory Ltd, also a major whisky distiller, hopes to sell several hundred thousand blue roses a year, company spokesman Kazumasa Nishizaki said.

"As its price may be a bit high, we are targeting demand for luxurious cut flowers, such as for gifts," he said. The exact price and commercial name for the blue rose have not been decided. The company is also growing the rose experimentally in Australia and the United States to get approval for sales, but no timing has been set for commercial launches in the two countries.

Suntory in 2004 unveiled the world's first genetically modified blue rose after 14 years of study which also involved Australian researchers.

It created the flowers by implanting the gene that leads to the synthesis of the blue pigment Delphinidin in pansies. The pigment does not exist naturally in roses.

(AFP) http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/427019

what is the rose having the closest color but without the artificial gene?

Patrick

Paul

I do love a touch of blue in the garden, but I'll stick with irises and other things that really ARE blue.

Jeri

Tammy

Marina, still living happily without a blue rose :)

I remember seeing a picture of a tobacco plant that they inserted with a gene from a lightening bug, the thing glowed in the dark. That would be a cool rose, I think!

On Suntory home page I found this photo:

The roses they hold seem really blue not violet, or is itphotoshop?

a Japanese woman admires a blue rose:

Suntory works with Australian company Florigene and they say:

"A bluer rose
While the prototype blue rose made by Florigene and Suntory is in fact a pale violet colour it is the first rose of this colour that comes from blue pigment. The colour of other �eblue�froses currently on the market is only a modification of red pigment. Even bluer flowers should be achievable if rose petals can be made less acidic, as acidity inhibits blue pigment.
Florigene and Suntory researchers are searching for genes that affect petal acidity or that affect petal colour in other ways, to breed a bluer rose."

Carla

it all started out as a way to breed better hops for brewing beer. they collected huge amounts of plant/genes for their work and created the supertunia.

in the process of collection they saved many plants forms from extintiction which has been a benefit. but you are right that the blue rose is just weird shade of purple. i keep hoping that it would be something like a blue Himalyian poppy. but no, its just a shade of lavender/violet

diggerb

The color of CARDINAL DE RICHELIEU is due to the natural hue of the cell vacuoles. As the cyanin pigment bleeds out the color changes from dark crimson to a muddy grape purple, finishing off a soft dove gray. Cardinal de Richelieu along with Veilchenblau and Rhapsody in Blue all represent the extreme end of this biological process. Image by Cnetter at Hortiplex.

Does anyone grow the low ground hugging bright blue lobelia successfully?

Instead, I think it is to be admired that a company is so steadfast in investing money for such a long time in a very risky research project that gives no guarantee of success. To finally obtain a true blue rose requires perseverance: improvement in such a scientifically heavy project comes in small steps and takes a long time. They are not there yet, and maybe they will never get there. But they have accomplished some amazing things already. I think they deserve credit for that.

Rob

Pink roses I got -- and they look lovely with blue iris and skyflower and some of the blue-to-purple salvias. I suspect I'll just have to remain content with those for the forseeable future.

Jeri