New Brunswick, New Jersey
October 9, 2002

Senesco Technologies, Inc. ("Senesco" or the "Company") (AMEX: SNT) announced today that its ongoing banana research and development program reached an important milestone. Rahan Meristem, the Israeli company which is Senesco's 50/50 joint venture partner for banana commercialization, has transferred banana plants incorporating joint Senesco and Rahan technologies from controlled greenhouse conditions to the field.

The Company believes that its technology will yield immediate benefits for both banana growers and consumers. Senesco has shown in other crops that increased growth rates and flowering times, coupled with more vigorous plants, are typical traits derived from the use of its technology. In addition to more efficient banana plants, the banana fruit harvested are expected to have delayed spoilage properties, as has been seen in other fruits and vegetables, which incorporate the Company's technology. Early indications are that the Senesco plants do in fact grow more quickly.

Eli Khayat, Rahan Meristem's Scientific Director, elaborated, "Our field selectors, who are skilled in the art of banana cultivation, are already seeing qualitative enhancement in the growth of the Senesco/Rahan plants. Banana plants take approximately eight months to bear fruit. A material decrease in this timeframe would be a significant economic contribution to the banana industry. All signs point toward our joint venture's plants doing just this."

Bruce Galton, President and CEO of Senesco, stated, "Banana is the most widely consumed fruit worldwide. We are very excited at the prospect of being able to deliver a fruit, which will be superior in terms of post harvest viability, since spoilage is a tremendous problem in the banana industry. Rahan Meristem's expertise in the field of banana breeding and propagation has proven invaluable and we are very excited about the results that will stem from these plantings. We believe that our technology, coupled with their reputation in the banana industry, positions our joint venture for success."

Rahan Meristem is considered one of the most outstanding companies for the selection, breeding and production of vegetatively propagated plants. Working to improve plant varieties with cutting edge molecular biology techniques, Rahan has developed protocols for over 200 plant genera over the past 20 years. Rahan's tissue culture lab is among the most advanced in the world and is the nucleus of a highly integrated R&D network of acclimatization houses, nurseries and experimental plots.

Senesco takes its name from the scientific term for the aging of cells: senescence. The Company has developed technology that regulates the onset of cell death. Delaying cell breakdown in plants extends the freshness of perishable produce (e.g. flowers, fruits and vegetables) after harvesting and also increases crop yields, plant size and resistance to environmental stress. The Company believes that Senesco's technology can be used to develop superior strains of crops by delaying natural plant senescence and reducing the incidence of premature senescence due to environmental stress. Senesco has also begun to explore ways to trigger or delay cell death in mammals (apoptosis) to determine the extent to which the technology may be applicable in human medicine. Senesco partners with leading-edge companies and earns research and development fees for applying its gene-regulating platform technology to enhance its partner's products. Senesco is headquartered in New Brunswick,  New Jersey, and has research laboratories at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.