The scientists discovered a feedback loop involving two genes, one to stimulate stem cell production and the other to hold production in check. A shortage of the latter, a gene called CLAVATA3, leads to plumped up beefsteaks, the team reports today in Nature Genetics.
http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2015 ... ized-fruit
On a related note:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015 ... la-ronald/
This is exactly the view that needs to be taken on this. I'm not against GMOs per se, but think we can do a hell of a lot better than producing plants that are resistant to insecticide and then spraying the ever-loving fuck out of everything with said insecticide or making crops that produce BT toxin and then feeding that shit to people. One large corporation in particular has given the whole idea a bad name.
Ideas like the "super-sized" fruit and others that have more noble purposes need to be looked at seriously. Remember Golden Rice and the issues it was designed to take on?:
http://www.goldenrice.org/Content3-Why/why.php
[quoteBl]indness is only the tip of the iceberg. Blindness is an easily recognisable symptom of VAD, but it is only the most visible of a complex set of life-threatening illnesses, including reduced immune competence, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality (largely from increased severity of infectious diseases); night blindness, corneal ulcers, keratomalacia and related ocular signs and symptoms of xerophthalmia; exacerbation of anemia through suboptimal absorption and utilization of iron; and other conditions not yet fully identified or clarified (eg retardation of growth and development).[/quote]
Of course I believe that the world should look at the safety of all of this much more seriously than the U.S has. Just my two cents....
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015 ... la-ronald/
But as Ronald sees it, plant geneticists and organic farmers aren't enemies. In fact, they can be bedfellows: Her husband, Raoul Adamchak, is an organic farmer and co-author, with Ronald, of Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food. Praised by Bill Gates and Michael Pollan, their book argues for an integrated theory of agriculture in which "organic farming and genetic engineering each will play an increasingly important role," rather than being unnecessarily pitted against each other.
This is exactly the view that needs to be taken on this. I'm not against GMOs per se, but think we can do a hell of a lot better than producing plants that are resistant to insecticide and then spraying the ever-loving fuck out of everything with said insecticide or making crops that produce BT toxin and then feeding that shit to people. One large corporation in particular has given the whole idea a bad name.
Ideas like the "super-sized" fruit and others that have more noble purposes need to be looked at seriously. Remember Golden Rice and the issues it was designed to take on?:
http://www.goldenrice.org/Content3-Why/why.php
[quoteBl]indness is only the tip of the iceberg. Blindness is an easily recognisable symptom of VAD, but it is only the most visible of a complex set of life-threatening illnesses, including reduced immune competence, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality (largely from increased severity of infectious diseases); night blindness, corneal ulcers, keratomalacia and related ocular signs and symptoms of xerophthalmia; exacerbation of anemia through suboptimal absorption and utilization of iron; and other conditions not yet fully identified or clarified (eg retardation of growth and development).[/quote]
Of course I believe that the world should look at the safety of all of this much more seriously than the U.S has. Just my two cents....
Some other thing I have noticed with all these giant fruites. Their taste aren't as strong. When I was a kid, those old small tiny bananas tasted MUCH MORE than these huge ones we have today. Maybe it's just in my head though but I'm pretty sure the smaller ones taste better. 
- sn-plants.jpg (25.36 KiB) Viewed 5122 times
With tomatoes, in my opinion, the variety of the plant played a more crucial roll. This may seem obvious too, but letting them ripen on the vine is the best way to go. The stuff you get in the grocery stores probably aren't given that time because they'd be rotten before shipped to where they need to go. I found that letting the store bought ones ripen on the window seal for a few days can make a big difference.
I do remember some things being more flavorful too.
I do remember some things being more flavorful too.
The bigger the plant the higher area the substances that give taste etc get spread out to. Most of the bulk is water rather than all the extra elements.
