Prepared Foods' April 18, 2005, enewsletter reports that scientists with Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) have developed plants that produce DHA, an omega-3 oil vital for human health and normally found only in fish sources. DHA and other long-chain omega-3 fatty acids are made by lower plant forms, like microalgae, which then are acquired by fish through the food chain.

CSIRO Food Futures advanced genetics leader Allan Green said the prototype plants showed for the first time that "land plants can, indeed, make their own DHA and other important long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, when we equip them with the required genes." The researchers note that commercially available omega-3-enriched crops might be some years away.