Scientists Try to Engineer a Tastier Tomato

Scientists at the University of Florida in Gainesville are hard at work trying to engineer a tomato that doesn't taste like mushy cardboard. Using molecular breeding techniques, forms of gene modification, and scientifically assisted selection that doesn't use foreign DNA, these researchers hope to recapture that great tomato flavor that's been lost in modern commercial varieties.

Newsflash! We already have those. They're called "heirloom" tomatoes, and they've been around for generations.

The NPR news story that first brought this endeavor to my attention sadly makes no mention of heirlooms, and gave no indication that there might be other, simpler, less ass-backwards remedies to the tasteless- tomato situation. The news organization seemed to take the need for ridiculously high yields as a given, and didn't give the slightest indication that anyone might think that more genetic tinkering might not be the best way to fix a problem that already has a tried-and-true solution.

One plant biologist, Harry Klee, hits the nail on the head when he says, "The grower is paid for size and yield — and flavor is irrelevant, unfortunately." However, the Florida scientists believe the tomato's salvation lies not in changing this incentive system — perhaps by doing something crazy like making it easier for farmers to sell directly to consumers — but in engineering an increased level of a flavor-producing compound called volatiles in those overworked, high-yield tomatoes. While it isn't feasible for the tomato plant to produce more sugars and nutrients in its progeny (which is the reason modern tomatoes taste so bland) it apparently is possible for it to produce more volatiles.

I don't doubt that these scientists will succeed in making a high-yield tomato with more flavor. I do doubt, however, that that flavor will be exceptionally good, especially when compared to the sweet, juicy goodness of an heirloom tomato. I'm also skeptical that these tomatoes will gain any popularity whatsoever. These tinkered-with tomatoes are likely to be more expensive to the farmer if not to the consumer,too, because the scientific endeavor it took to create them won't come cheap. But the real reason the new tomatoes won't change our edible landscape is because the basic situation that created this problem in the first place will have remained unchanged: Farmers will still be paid for size and yield, and flavor will be irrelevant.

Photo credit: USDA