Sounds like sci-fi? Well, in the near future it may be a reality.

A Chinese research team has produced just such a genetically-modified (GM) tomato which is currently undergoing field trials in a suburb of Beijing.

If the trials, expected to last between one and two years, are successful and it can be proven that the tomato has neither an adverse impact on the environment, nor people's health, they will pave a smooth path for commercial application, in the not too distant future.

"We will file an application to the Ministry of Agriculture for permission to go into production and sales, if the trials are demonstrably successful and reliable," said Liu Dehu, a bio-technology researcher with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

GM agricultural products are only allowed to enter the markets after they have been given a safety certificate by the Ministry of Agriculture following three-phased experimental trials.

Liu, who has led the hepatitis B tomato experiments over the past 10 years, told China Daily yesterday that he believes Chinese consumers will have access to the potentially life-saving tomato in the next few years.

"No timetable is set yet. But if everything stays on track, I think after 2004, the tomatoes can be on the food shelves," he added. Liu's tomato project is part of the farsighted "863 Plan," a pre-eminent science and technology undertaking initiated by and forwarded under the auspices of central government.

The tomato has been engineered in such a way that the antigen for hepatitis B is inserted into a tomato through gene modification technology.

When eaten, the tomato will improve a person's immunity and resistance to hepatitis B.

However, researchers on genetically modified foods contacted by China Daily yesterday added a cautious note to the experiment, adopting a wait-and-see attitude as to whether this GM tomato can really match the claims of its creators.

The researchers, who declined to be identified, refused to comment on the tomatoes until permission by the Ministry of Agriculture has been given for it to be mass produced.

Genetically-modified products have proved highly controversial in the world community, with consumers giving them, at best a lukewarm reception amidst hotly debated health and environmental concerns.

"The tomatoes need to be certified by authoritative sources before consumers can accept them with ease," said Jin Li, a 32-year-old woman with a foreign-funded public relations firm.

Jin's words were echoed by Zhen Zhicheng, a 26-year-old man working at a biotechnology firm in Beijing. Zhen said he would not buy the GM tomato as he is very skeptical as to how it can supplant the function of the hepatitis B vaccination by injection.

But Liu Dehu said the rapid advancement of biotechnology over the past few years has made the potential for such oral vaccine plants and foodstuffs a reality. "Similar experiments have been carried out abroad and we have seen genetically-modified tomato, potato, soy bean which help subdue such diseases as rabies and colon bacillus."

(China Daily November 28, 2002)