Suntory engineers bluest rose yet using co-pigment strategy

Overview

Updated 1 hour ago

For 22 years, the best scientists could manage was a rose that read as mauve. In August 2026, Suntory researchers in Kyoto unveiled a rose that registers as violet-blue on official horticultural color charts, built from genes borrowed from three other flower species.

Roses lack the enzyme to build blue pigment, and the 2004 attempt that added delphinidin alone produced a purplish flower. The new work adds helper molecules called flavone C-glycosides that stabilize the blue pigment, a strategy that could extend to lilies and sunflowers and eventually end the practice of dyeing white roses.

Why it matters

True blue roses could replace dyed cut flowers, and the co-pigment technique could give lilies and sunflowers blue varieties for the first time.

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Key Indicators

Genes inserted from three flower species

One from Canterbury bells for blue pigment, two from wishbone flowers and one from clustered gentian for helper molecules.

7 years

Greenhouse trials in Japan

Roses kept producing blue flowers for seven years in Japanese greenhouses and three years in Colombian fields.

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People Involved

S. Ito

Lead researcher, Suntory Global Innovation Center

Presented co-pigment findings at the 2026 International Horticultural Congress

Organizations Involved

Suntory Global Innovation Center

Corporate research center

Led the genetic engineering work

Research arm of Japanese beverage and biotechnology company Suntory that engineered roses to produce blue pigment and helper molecules.

Florigene

Agricultural biotechnology company

Former collaborator on the 2004 Applause rose

Australian biotech firm that co-developed the first genetically modified blue-pigment rose with Suntory.

Timeline

January 2004 August 2026

4 events Latest: August 25th, 2026 · 1 month ago

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August 2026
Co-pigment strategy presented in Kyoto
Latest Scientific announcement

Suntory researchers present violet-blue roses produced with four genes and helper molecules at the 32nd International Horticultural Congress.
August 25th, 2026
January 2010
Applause sells 10,000 stems in Japan
Commercial

Suntory reports sales of 10,000 Applause roses at 2,000 to 3,000 yen per stem, roughly $22 to $35.
January 1st, 2010
January 2009
Applause rose reaches Japanese market
Commercial launch

Suntory sells the mauve GM rose in Japan as the world's first marketed 'blue' rose.
January 1st, 2009
January 2004
First genetically modified blue-pigment rose created
Scientific breakthrough

Suntory and Florigene insert the delphinidin gene from pansies into a rose. The flower is mauve, not blue.
January 1st, 2004

Scenarios

Suntory achieves a true blue rose

Possible Resolves by End of 2028

Discussed by: Suntory research team, as reported in Science News and Lab DB

The team has stated that its objective remains a 'true' or 'royal' blue. Lab DB reports the likely path is fine-tuning co-pigment expression and adding genes that shift petal vacuole pH slightly more alkaline, which would stabilize the blue pigment. The team has already demonstrated stable color production over seven years of trials.

Violet-blue roses reach commercial market

Possible Resolves by End of 2030

Discussed by: Lab DB; Biology Insights

The global floriculture market has long relied on dyeing white roses to meet demand for non-traditional colors. Lab DB notes that regulatory frameworks for genetically modified ornamental plants remain stringent in many nations, so commercial retail requires biosafety assessments, studies on cross-pollination risks, and environmental impact reviews. The roses have proven stable in Japanese greenhouses and Colombian fields.

Co-pigment technique extended to other flowers

Possible Resolves by Q2 2031

Discussed by: Lab DB

The helper-molecule strategy is a blueprint for other plant scientists. Lab DB suggests the technique could give lilies or sunflowers blue varieties for the first time, since both lack blue forms. This would require adapting the co-pigment genes to new host species, which takes years of research and breeding.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

2002-2004

The Applause GM rose (2002-2004)

Suntory and Australian firm Florigene engineered a white rose with the delphinidin gene cloned from pansies. The flower produced blue pigment but appeared mauve because rose petals are more acidic than pansy petals, degrading the pigment.

Then

Applause was marketed in Japan from 2009, selling 10,000 stems in 2010 at 2,000 to 3,000 yen each.

Now

It demonstrated that blue pigment alone is not enough to make a blue rose, setting up the co-pigment work that followed.

Why this matters now

The gap between Applause's mauve and the 2026 violet-blue result shows exactly what the helper-molecule strategy achieves.

12th century

Medieval dyeing of blue roses (12th century)

Andalusian agronomist Ibn al-'Awwam al-Ishbīlī wrote Kitāb al-Filāḥah, an agricultural manual in Arabic describing azure blue roses known to the Orient, made by placing blue dye into the bark of the roots.

Then

The dyeing technique spread through the Islamic world and reached Europe in the 19th century via French translation.

Now

It established the pattern of producing blue roses artificially, since natural blue roses have never existed.

Why this matters now

The blue rose quest is nearly a millennium old, and every blue rose until this year's work was colored by dye rather than genetics.