What Does a Blue Rose Signify?
There are an estimated 100 to 150 varieties of roses. They have been cultivated in an array of colors from white to orange and even lavender, but it is the elusive blue rose that has captivated people throughout the ages. The enzyme delphinidin is responsible for a flower's blue pigment and does not occur naturally in roses. Because of this, a blue rose is known as a symbol of the unattainable, the imaginary and that which is beyond the realm of possibility.
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Considerations
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Rose breeders have tried to develop blue roses through traditional means but have met with little success, as these efforts have produced varying shades of purple and not true blue pigments. For example, the Blue Moon Hybrid Tea Rose is a fragrant rose variety but, despite its name, is not blue but rather lilac or lavender in color.
Significance
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As gifts, roses have symbolized love and friendship throughout the ages. Giving a red rose signifies romantic love. Yellow roses denote friendship while white roses convey purity, spirituality or innocence. Blue roses have long been considered the "holy grail" of rose colors and have been created artificially by dyeing white roses. If you gave blue roses for a gift, you might just be saying that the recipient's love was unobtainable, or it could simply be an expression of the enigmatic nature of romantic love.
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Development
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Japanese brewing and distilling company Suntory and Melbourne biotechnology company Florigine developed a genetically engineered blue rose, essentially obtaining what was once thought impossible. They announced this development to the world in 2004. Development of this much sought-after rose color took their scientists 13 years of research and cost AUS $45 million. Company spokesman Atsuhito Osaka states that test batches of these genetically modified blue roses are currently being grown and will be available commercially in Japan in 2009. Suntory's blue roses contain nearly 100 percent of delphinidin in their petals.
Expert Insight
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Scientists at Florigene created the blue roses by extracting the gene for delphinidin. The same technology was used in 1995 on carnations, marketed under the name Moondust. According to CSIRO, the company that invented gene silencing in 1997, three steps had to be achieved to create blue roses. Turn off production of red pigment, open a door to production of blue pigment and produce the blue pigment. Gene silencing, or hairpin RNAi, uses a natural mechanism to degrade RNA, the carrier of instructions that tells genes to make proteins such as the enzyme DFR, the gene in roses that produces red pigment. This DFR gene is a poor producer of blue pigment and stopping this gene from making red pigment was crucial in order to produce blue rose petals.
History
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The blue rose has a wide range of symbolism in folklore and popular culture. The first known use of a blue flower symbol was by German poet and philosopher Novalis, whose last work was a poem entitled "The Blue Flower" in which blue blooming flowers stood for a metaphysical desire of striving for the infinite, love and the unreachable. The magic and mystery surrounding the blue rose has been featured in film, television, art and literature. Symbolism appears to be limited only by the imagination, as blue rose metaphors have ranged from deception and secrecy to humor and even weaponry.
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