# 17-Year-Old Scientist Engineers Meat-Tasting Tomatoes

> 17-year-old scientist creates tomatoes that taste like meat, patent pending.
- Title: 17-Year-Old Scientist Engineers Meat-Tasting Tomatoes · mint
- Summary: 17-year-old scientist creates tomatoes that taste like meat, patent pending. Gabriella Rothberg, a 17-year-old student from Miami, engineered tomatoes to…
- Keywords: gabriella rothberg, impossible vines, heme, tomatoes, genetically engineered, miami, us patent, biotechnology, news, india, 17-Year-Old, Scientist
- Source: mint — https://livemint.com/news/trends/meet-the-17-year-old-scientist-engineering-tomatoes-to-taste-like-meat-and-why-her-experiment-could-matter-11792177154095.html
- Author: Trisha Bhattacharya
- Published: 2026-10-16T19:55:48+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: gabriella rothberg, impossible vines, heme, tomatoes, genetically engineered, miami, us patent, biotechnology, news, india
## Gabriella Rothberg
17-year-old student from Miami engineering tomatoes to taste like meat.

> could a tomato be engineered to taste like a hamburger?
## Project Impossible Vines
Patent pending project to engineer tomatoes with meat-like flavor using heme.

> The aim is to introduce genetic instructions that enable tomato plants to produce the desired compound.
## Collaboration with University of Miami
Working with doctoral candidate Maddison Marshall on heme production.

> She is collaborating with Maddison Marshall, a doctoral candidate at the University of Miami, to develop the technology.
## US Patent in June 2026
Patent issued for heme-producing tomatoes by Impossible Vines Inc.

> According to reports by The Miami New Times and The Times of India, Rothberg and her father, biotechnology entrepreneur Jonathan Rothberg, are named as inventors on a US patent issued in June 2
## Heme Production Method
Using Agrobacterium to transfer genetic material into tomato cells.

> The approach involves using Agrobacterium, a bacterium commonly employed in plant biotechnology to transfer genetic material into plant cells.
## Taste Testing Status
Tomatoes have not undergone taste testing or entered commercial production.

> The tomatoes have not undergone reported taste testing or entered commercial production, and their ability to deliver the intended flavor has yet to be established.
## Nutritional Potential
Could help address iron deficiency in developing countries.

> She has identified pregnant women in developing countries as one group that could potentially benefit if the technology can deliver meaningful nutritional advantages.
## Key takeaway

Gabriella Rothberg, a 17-year-old student from Miami, engineered tomatoes to produce heme for meat-like flavor through a US patent.