Feeling Blue’ might be the new term for describing that warm romantic feeling! For the first time, blue roses have been synthesized for the public, all thanks to modern genetic engineering. It even has a name Applause’, which almost commands the standing ovation that it deserves.
The Rose and its Colors
Blue roses have long been a fascination for humans, symbolizing the quest for the unattainable. They have even achieved mythic proportions. This feat was achieved by injecting the pigment delphindin, taken from the petunia flower. The pigment provides the blue colour. Depending on the amount of expression of the pigment in the cells of the petals, the shade of the flower is determined.
While red, pink and white roses have come to symbolize passion, love and peace respectively, blue roses represent the journey for the impossible, the basic human desire to do something outside the natural order of things. It also symbolizes unattainable love, a common source of heartbreak for many. Unfortunately, blue roses have been linked to more racist notions too. Blue roses have been linked to royal blood or blue blood’, especially in medieval English literature.
Blooming Blue
While the only way to create blue roses till now, outside the lab, was to dye white roses, this is the first time blue roses can actually be cultivated and sold in public markets. Roses of other tints have also been created, like the mauve rose made using cyanidin pigment.
Who needs violets? Roses are red, roses are blue; Science brings strange beauty, made just for you.
