TOKYO, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- The world's first true blue roses were unveiled at a Tokyo flower show after 20 years of research and a $30 million investment, flower show officials say.
The blue flowers, which traditionally signify mystery or attaining the impossible, go on sale next fall, the company that developed them said.
The blooms are genetically modified and implanted with a gene that simulates the synthesis of blue pigment pansies, The Daily Telegraph reported.
The creation of blue roses -- long thought impossible -- was masterminded by the Melbourne, Australia, Florigene biotechnology subsidiary of Suntory Ltd., a Japanese brewing and distilling company.
The company hopes to open up a global market for blue flowers worth more than $300 million, the Telegraph said.
In 1991, the team won an intense global race to isolate the gene responsible for blue flowers and has since developed a range of genetically modified flowers expressing colors in the blue spectrum, as well as breakthroughs extending the vase life of cut flowers.
Previous blue roses have been created by dyeing white roses, since roses lack a gene to produce delphinidin, the primary plant pigment that produces true blue flowers.
Other so-called blue roses have been bred by conventional hybridization methods, but they have been more lilac in color, flower experts say.
Besides blue roses, highlights at the International Flower Expo Tokyo include glow-in-the-dark roses that have been genetically modified to light up in the dark, the Telegraph said.
