By Rachel Polizzano, Erin Hoyt, Elizabeth Donovan, Kiersten Inkley, and Max Beller

Teddy the Tomato

Teddy the tomato was born on the farm. He had a happy life, full of sunbathing and water games. His farmer was a nice man who had looked very stressed

lately. His hair was going grey and he always muttered about money troubles.  

Then, one day Teddy woke up to the farmer injecting him with something. He looked around and all the tomatoes were having

the same thing done to them!

“What’s going on?!” He asked the farmer, startled and confused.

“I’m putting DNA inside of you to make you stronger and bigger! Also, immune to the weed killer I want to spray on you

and all your tomato friends.”

“Okay…I trust you.” Teddy the tomato said, reluctantly. He really liked the farmer. Plus, a tomato’s life tends to be boring and he was excited to see what was going to happen to him!

The government says that Teddy can help people fight diseases that they otherwise couldn't fight or control. This is all thanks to teddy's

very special genes.

Thanks to Teddy's special genes, he can be grown all over the world, even where other tomatoes can't! This allows Teddy to feed more

hungry people all over the earth.

Teddy said, “Another benefit of mine is that I have more nutritional value! My offspring will be packed with vitamin A, which is a nutrient many developing countries are lacking.”

Teddy said, “My friend, Pam the purple tomato, has the genes of the snapdragon plant in her. The snapdragon genes makes her have a lot of anthocyanin's inside her, which are pigments that protect against certain cancers and diseases. There is evidence that anthocyanin's

could even fight against obesity and diabetes. Way to go Pam!”

*Although a lot about Teddy was helpful to people, he also had some problems that hurt his human friends because they

couldn't handle the genes inside Teddy.

After his friends ate him, some people started having allergies. There skin would get hives, and some people began having

trouble breathing.

*Teddy was also covered in harmful toxins, while they kept bugs from eating him and his friends, but hurt the people who ate him and his friends. They would would get horrible stomach

pains and sometimes would send them to the hospital.

*Teddy's RNA could also hurt the people who ate him. His modified RNA could impact peoples' genes leading to a whole host of problems for not only those who ate teddy, but also those people's children by modifying parts of there DNA and

causing mutations in their genetic code.

“You decide how you feel about me!”