Since the potato is one of the top food crops GLOBALLY, this is macroeconomic.
These researchers say The potato is a hybrid between two closely genetically related plants 10 million years ago.
Here’s the METAR hook:
{ The cultivated potato we consume today is currently the world’s third most important staple crop, and with wheat, rice and maize, is responsible for 80% of human caloric intake, according to the study.
Understanding the potato’s origin story could be the key to breeding more innovation into future potatoes; reintroducing key tomato genes could lead to fast-breeding potatoes reproduced by seeds, something with which Huang and his team at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences are experimenting. }
ralph
Today’s potatoes do produce biological seeds, but these seed often do not “breed true”.
Having potatoes that could be more easily manipulated by “true seed genetics” might help feed more hungry children.
Most plants have tremendous diversity in the immediate area where they evolved.
Peru has literally hundreds of different cultivars of potatoes. The Caucasus mountains have hundreds of varieties of apples.
People select and breed the few cultivars that meet our needs. Then continue refining. Industrial agriculture often has giant monocultures which are vulnerable to outbreaks of pathogens and insect pests. The Irish Potato Famine was disastrous because all their potatoes were a single cultivar. Bananas were wiped out in the early 20th century until a different disease-resistant cultivar was located – but the entire world crop is now vulnerable again.
Anyone who is interested in plants and food should read Michael Pollan’s books.
And study genetics.
Hybrids don’t breed true… ever.
Hybridized plants must be cloned vegetatively to get true copies. Animals (like purebred dogs) are intensively line-bred for generations with the deviants ruthlessly culled.
Potatoes are still cloned from other potatoes (“eyes” on tubers), not fertilized seeds. And mules are bred one at a time, a horse to a donkey, never one mule to another mule.
And type 2 diabetes? Calories per se are not nutrition.
AI Overview
While calories provide the energy our bodies need, they are not a nutrient themselves. Calories are simply a unit of measurement for energy, whereas nutrition refers to the essential substances found in food that our bodies need to function, like vitamins, minerals, proteins, and fats. Focusing solely on calories without considering the nutritional quality of food can be detrimental to overall health.
Potatoes are very nutrient dense. They are a good source of Vitamins C and B, potassium, other minerals, and fiber (from the skins). Sweet potatoes are rich in Vitamin A as well.
OT:
2 potatoes are walking down the street.
How do you know which one is the prostitute?
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The one with the T-shirt that says “Idaho”.
All living things require NEWT. Nutrients, Energy, Water, and the ‘right’ Temperature.
Energy (calories) are converted/stored in ATP (or similar ‘cellular batteries’). And, used to control the movement and chemical processing of Nutrients.
Nutrients are Minerals/elements, Vitamins, Proteins n Fats. (there are of course ‘calories’ in proteins n fats… but if they are used for ‘energy’ then they aint used for ‘nutrients’.)
Water. Liquid water has MANY properties that are directly tied to ‘life’.
Temperature. Mammals are homeothermic. Heat energy is released from biochemical processes due to inefficient combustion. Mammals MANAGE heat energy losses, to maintain homeothermia. The ‘right Temperature’ is required for proper functioning of enzymes which then control rates of biochemical processes. This is HEAT energy.
Many biochemical processes are ACTIVE - meaning they REQUIRE energy in the form of ATP. No ATP… no biochemistry AT LIFE TEMPERATURES. This is chemical energy in the form of ‘higher energy’ Electrons, and therefore ‘higher energy’ Atoms. These ‘particles’ are more ‘energetic’ and prone to ‘chemical reactions’.
Calories provide the ‘stored energy’ that is inefficiently combusted, releasing ‘waste’ heat energy, AND chemical energy that is transferred to ATP that provides the energized particles required for Biochemical (Life) reactions.
