Recent advances in science 2010

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Recent advances in science 2010

As the above picture shows, botanist at the Silverton Botanical Laboratory in Hoopoe, California have been hard at work attempting to modify the chromosomes of common fruits and vegetables to cause them to display UPC symbols on their skin when they ripen. According to Dr. Steven Washburn, Director of Operations, they have had some limited success on apples, pears, oranges and bananas and have now reached a point that will allow them to introduce graftings of some of these fruits to growers in selected areas. Washburn also said that one of the problems that they had to overcome was to modify the scanners to maintain accuracy as the fruits wrinkle and darken due to aging. He also admitted that they have not as of yet been successful with root crops such as potatoes or carrots. Peaches also proved to be problematical due to the fuzz. But he predicts that these problems will be solved by perhaps altering the outer peel (skin) to present a more acceptable surface. Also the color of some food crops might have to be changed to provide more contrast to scanners. Of course the public would have to be educated to accept the different appearance of their favorite fruits or vegetables. It is also not known what the public reaction to the system will be given the recent reluctance of some people to accept milk from genetically enhanced cows. Dr. Washburn stressed, however that this "in no way, affects the quality or taste of the product providing that the skin itself is discarded."

Only time will tell! ;-)