How Close Are We to Growing a Square Tomato?
Scientists have discovered the genes that appear to determine the shapes of fruits and vegetables. Could we one day see a square one as in this illustration?
Esther van der Knaap is at the forefront of genetic research into exactly how a plant's DNA instructs its fruit to grow long and lean like a hothouse cucumber or round and squat like a beefsteak tomato. In her lab at the University of Georgia, postdocs and undergraduates slice tomatoes in half and place them on a flatbed scanner to measure the precise shapes and sizes produced by different genetic combinations.