Meet Gabriella Rothberg, 17, co-inventor of patented genetically engineered tomato
Seventeen-year-old Gabriella Rothberg is a co-inventor on a patent for genetically engineered tomatoes designed to produce heme, a molecule that gives meat its flavor. The project, developed with her father, aims to create plant-based food that tastes like meat without heavy processing.
Why it matters
This innovation represents a potential shift in food biotechnology, aiming to improve the sensory experience of plant-based diets through genetic engineering.
A sandwich Gabriella Rothberg was making for her father when she was 15 led to an unusual question- Could a tomato be made to taste like meat? Two years later, the 17-year-old student from Miami is listed as a co-inventor on a US patent for genetically engineered tomatoes designed to produce heme, an iron-containing molecule associated with the flavour of meat.Gabriella, a senior at Ransom Everglades School in Coconut Grove, worked on the project with her father, biotechnology entrepreneur Jonathan Rothberg. The two are named as inventors on US Patent No. 12,668,806, issued in June this year. According to a report by Biscayne Bay Beacon, the patent has been assigned to Impossible Vines Inc.The idea behind the project is to develop tomatoes that produce heme, which contributes to the characteristic flavour of meat.
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