Scientists have successfully created new varieties of flowers with more attractive colors and scents, and have also improved the bouquets of wines.
By Judy Siegel-Itzkovich
"Roses are red, violets are blue, but when researchers get
their hands on them, they can change their smell and hue."
When Israel's first president, Professor Chaim Weizmann, held the newly established State's first reception, flowers had to be flown in from Holland. Today, flowers are an important part of Israeli agriculture, with annual exports of more than 1.5 billion flowers, totaling some $250 million. Flowers are exported mainly to Europe- Holland, Germany, France, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe- but also to the US. The local market amounts to some 500 million flowers annually.
Dr. David Weiss, a senior lecturer in horticulture at the Hebrew University, is coordinating a project to enhance the color and smell of flowers. His team includes scientists from HU's Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences in Rehovot, working together with colleagues from the Ministry of Agriculture's Research Authority at Beit Dagan. (The HU faculty was a partner in the development of some 40 percent of the flower varieties grown in Israel.) Weiss explains that most new strains of flowers produced by traditional breeding techniques had little or no odor. Using the techniques developed in the Human Genome Project, his team has isolated and deciphered the composition of genes and proteins in the petals of roses and carnations. In one project, the researchers took a gene from a small, especially aromatic plant that grows in California, and successfully introduced it into a carnation plant. Its flowers now produce the same aroma as the Californian plant.
But smell is not the only important characteristic in flowers. HU's Prof. Alexander Vainstein has succeeded in genetically engineering new hues of carnations, such as pale green and cream. Work is also progressing on color enhancement of roses and gypsophila (baby's breath). The researchers claim that in the foreseeable future, it will be possible to create customized "designer flowers" to meet specific requests- matching them to the color of one's dress, eyes or furniture, or making them smell like one's favorite perfume.