Credit: AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi

Whiskey maker Suntory (Tokyo) and Australian firm Florigene (Melbourne) took 20 years to make the first blue biotech roses by inserting the flavonoid 3′,5′-hydroxylase gene that leads to the synthesis of blue pigment delphinidin in pansies. The flowers have been sold at florists in Japan since November for up to $33 a stem—10 times more expensive that other roses. 'Blue gene technology' notwithstanding, the roses still lack the true Royal Blue touch.