Scientists working for a Japanese whisky manufacturer say they have created blue roses.

Suntory is growing test batches of the genetically-modified blue roses in the US and Australia.

Company spokesman Atsuhito Osaka said there were plans to start marketing them in Japan in 2009.

It took Suntory scientists 14 years to develop the blue rose, which is likely to fetch a premium price.

"We expect the people who will buy the rose to be in the higher income bracket and we would be very happy if the flower became known as something that people would give on special occasions," said Mr. Osaka.

"Experts said it was impossible to make a blue rose, which is why we went ahead and did it," he said.

"We wanted to rise to that challenge."

No blue pigments occur naturally in roses. Suntory identified the gene behind blue pigment in pansies and transplanted that into a rose.

Suntory, the firm behind Yamazaki whisky, has not yet set a price for the new rose but hopes to sell several hundred thousand blooms a year.