Forbes July 22, 2024
This hardy, nutritious and tasty fruit is teaching scientists how to rapidly domesticate a plant into a sustainable and resilient crop using cutting-edge technology.
I remember my enchantment the first time I saw goldenberries, often known by its generic name, Physalis. The fruit, which is occasionally sold in grocery stores, looks like a shiny and bright yellowish-orange cherry tomato and grows inside its own paper-like wrapper (an inflated calyx), with tastes that range from sweet to tart, and flavors resembling something between a tomato and a pineapple.
“They’re sweet, and kids love them,” observed the study’s senior author, plant geneticist Joyce Van Eck, a professor who leads the ‘Physalis Improvement Project’ at Cornell University’s Boyce Thompson Institute.
“Goldenberries actually have...
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