Which colour would you like your roses? Red, white, yellow ... or perhaps blue? Japan's Suntory Ltd. said Tuesday it would start selling the world's first genetically-modified blue roses next month, 20 years after it began research to create the novelty flowers.
The major whisky distiller said it succeeded in developing blue roses in 2004 with the Australian biotech company Florigene Pty Ltd.
The blue roses are created by implanting the gene that leads to the synthesis of the blue pigment Delphinidin in pansies, the firm said.
The product was approved by the Japanese government in 2008 on the basis of an international agreement on biosafety. It took one year for the company to establish its production and marketing systems, Suntory said.
Named Applause, the new variety is "recommended as a luxurious gift for special occasions such as wedding anniversaries and birthdays", the company said.
They are expected to be priced between 2,000 and 3,000 yen (22 and 33 dollars) per stem, about 10 times more expensive than normal roses in Japan.
There are no current plans to sell the new variety overseas.
你喜欢什么颜色的玫瑰？红色、白色、黄色……或是蓝色？日本三得利有限公司于本周二宣布，该公司将于下月开始销售世界上首批转基因蓝玫瑰。有关这种新型花卉的研究持续了20年。
这家大型威士忌蒸馏企业称，该公司与澳大利亚一家名为“花基因”的生物科技公司合作，于2004年成功研制出蓝玫瑰。
该公司称，蓝玫瑰是通过植入一种可生成三色紫罗兰中所含的蓝色花翠素的基因培育而成。
2008年，日本政府依据一项国际生物安全协议，批准了该产品的生产。三得利公司称，之后他们又花了一年的时间来建立生产和营销体系。
据该公司介绍，这种新品玫瑰被命名为“喝彩”，“可作为结婚纪念日或生日这种特别场合的豪华礼品”。
这种蓝玫瑰的售价预计为每支2000到3000日元之间（合22至33美元之间），比日本普通玫瑰的售价贵十倍。
目前该公司还没有在海外销售这一新品种的计划。
Vocabulary:
distiller: one that makes alcoholic liquors by the process of distillation 蒸馏酒制造业者
implant: to graft or insert (a tissue) within the body 移植，植入（implant a plastic heart in the body of a calf 把塑料心脏植入小牛体内）
synthesis: the combining of separate elements or substances to form a coherent whole 合成
pigment:a substance, such as chlorophyll or melanin, that produces a characteristic color in plant or animal tissue 色素
Delphinidin: a primary plant pigment which gives blue hues to flowers 花翠素
pansy: any of various plants of the genera Achimenes or Viola, having flowers with velvety petals of various colors 三色紫罗兰