Fish + cabbage = healthy

They may have smelt foul but mother always told you to eat your greens because they were good for you.

Now cabbage, spinach and the like could be even better for you after scientists used genetic engineering to add the health-promoting substances found in oily fish.

British researchers say the discovery could lead to a new generation of food crops able to reduce the risk of heart disease and other medical conditions.

With fish stocks declining, biotech crops could provide a more environmentally sound source of the 'medicinal' omega fatty acids found in oily fish such as sardines. The Bath University team put genes for three of the acids into a plant called arabidopsis, a relative of the cabbage.

Two of the genes came from algae and the third from a fungus. As the plants grew the genes turned themselves on to produce omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

The acids are part of the family called very long chain polyunsaturated acids, a prominent ingredient of many health foods.

They cut the risk of heart disease, relieve symptoms of inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, and there is also some evidence that they are effective against diabetes.

The genes could, in theory, be added to many different agricultural plants, said principal researcher Dr Baoxiu Qi.

'Any plants with green tissue, they all have the potential to produce these long chain fatty acids, he added.

The scientists were partly financed by German biotech company BASF, which told science journal Nature Biotechnology that it would follow up the research.