What is a TomTato? It's a plant that is able to grow cherry
tomatoes on the vine and potatoes in the soil (see picture below). A British
horticulture company, Thompson and Morgan, used stem grafting to naturally fuse
the two plants. This alternative to genetic engineering was successful,
however, it took over 15 years to produce a good product. They experienced
difficulty when attempting to fuse the stems of the plants together due to the
width difference of both plants.
It was reported that one plant was capable of
producing up to 500 tomatoes and 4.4 pounds of potatoes! The TomTato is the
first stem-grafted plant that has been made on a commercial scale, similar
plants have been 'created' but failed to produce mass quantities due to lack of
taste. In a video posted on Thompson and Morgan's website they claim that the
tomatoes are "sugary yet tangy." You can now purchase a TomTato in
the UK for about $24 (U.S). If you or someone you know has a garden would you
be interested in this plant? Is there another food combination that you would
like to see more? Let me know!
Check out the article:
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/tomtato-lives-frankensteinian-plant-grows-both-tomatoes-potatoes-8C11266757
Do you know how long it took me to say the word tomtato? Too long. I think this is incredibly awesome. I've expressed before at the amount of plants that horde my window space. Well 4 out of the 6 larger pots are tomato plants that I've grown from seeds. (Which I am quite proud of, by the way.) It would be totally awesome if I could say my tomato plant produce potatoes too! Or vice versa. I want one.
ReplyDeleteThis is so interesting! I'm with Gaby, took me a second to process the word Tomtato. This article is interesting for two reasons. The first reason, it's about a tomato plant and a potato plant becoming one, how cool! The second reason is that it puts a perspective on how long experiments and research can take. It took 15 years for this plant to become one; after many failed attempts, it worked! It's a message to scientists and researchers, not to give up.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the coolest things I've seen in a while. It is amazing that after so many years of failed attempts they finally were able to develop a plant that could grow two different things at the same time. I'm guessing fusing the plants together causes differences in taste( since there were some other plants that were fused but had poor taste) I wonder if they may try some different combinations to enhance the flavors of certain fruits and vegetables.
ReplyDeleteActually the difference in taste was due to poor nutrition of the plant. Because there was a significant size difference between the 2 stems it was hard for the plant to receive all of the nutrients it needed, and therefore, wasn't as tasty. But I definitely agree with you and think they need to test out more combinations because, well why not?
Deletethats odd,I see this as an interesting acheivement but I dont see why we should create these tomtatos plants. I think the goal behind it is commercial more than anything else. creating a plant that yields two kinds of vegetables sounds a great invention for someone who wants to make maximum profit using the same area of land.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a good gift idea for that very special green-thumbed person in your life...a handgrafted tomtato. Not every human scientific endeavor will be of great and noble benefit to mankind. It may just be fun and interesting, life's short, I'll take a tomtato too please.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree! I can't say that I would ever use it but I can't stop saying the word "tomtato," it's so catchy! Haha
DeleteI would not mind having a plant like this around but not for me. I am a terrible at regular plants I can not image how I would keep this plant alive. It does seem like a good idea more product for less soil area.
ReplyDeleteI just think this combination is insane! I wonder what made them choose these two vegetables to combine. It does makes sense from the agriculture and business point of view, it's two for the price of one.
ReplyDeleteA botanist replies! Tomatos and potatoes are members of the same genus, Solanum. This (I imagine) would make these two plants more physiologically compatible than say two plants that were not so closely related.
DeleteThe idea isn't new. Some of the first studies on plant hybridization sought to breed a cabbage and a radish, which are in two closely related genera.