Blue Roses

Hi-tech

The enthusiasts’ dream of a blue rose.

Speaking of roses what color comes to mind? You’ve probably come across varieties such as red, white, yellow, and pink, but for some reason you can never find blue colored roses. This is because a blue pigment doesn’t exist in original flower petals. The age old dream of rose enthusiasts all over the world of creating a blue colored rose has been said to be impossible.

Development of the world’s first ever blue rose is a success!

From long ago, people have tried repeatedly to make blue roses, but in recent years cooperative research by Japan’s Suntory Corporation and the Australian bio-venture company Calgene Pacific (now Florigene Pty. Ltd.) has led to success in creating a blue rose.

cutting-edge genetic engineering technologies have been applied, which are completely different from the conventional selective breeding techniques of artificially crossbreeding several rose species. Blue Roses, which were created after roughly 14 years of researching, became the world’s first genuine roses with blue pigment petals. This was accomplished by inserting genes taken from pansies into roses to make their pigment blue. As “blue rose” is synonymous for “impossible” in English, the development of a blue rose is indeed a miraculous achievement. This miracle was made possible thanks to the passion of the researchers who wanted to create a blue colored rose which had never before been seen in the world.

Can I buy Blue Roses at a florist shop?

Blue Roses are aimed to be on the market in 2009. Currently, a production system is being prepared so that you may be able to purchase Blue Roses from your local florist in the near future.

Also, in the process of researching for Blue Roses the world’s first blue carnations were developed in 1995. Since 1997 these flowers have been sold in Japan under the name “Moon Dust”.

(Updated in July 2009）

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