Naked Science Forum

On the Lighter Side => New Theories => Topic started by: Pseudoscience-is-malarkey on 27/10/2018 10:07:12

Title: Are self-harvesting potatoes possible?
Post by: Pseudoscience-is-malarkey on 27/10/2018 10:07:12
Is it possible to take the DNA of locusts and combine it with potatoes, creating self-harvesting potatoes that unearth themselves when they're ready to harvest?
Title: Re: Are self-harvesting potatoes possible?
Post by: Kryptid on 27/10/2018 14:31:38
I'm not sure how people would react to potatoes with functional legs. Other than the legs they would need to dig themselves out of the ground with, these locust potatoes would also require the secondary supporting organs needed to power those legs (such as a circulatory and respiratory system). Even some brain tissue may prove necessary to tell the legs how to move properly. At the end of all of this, what you have isn't much like a potato anymore.
Title: Re: Are self-harvesting potatoes possible?
Post by: Bored chemist on 27/10/2018 15:13:01
Locusts are edible...
Title: Re: Are self-harvesting potatoes possible?
Post by: Kryptid on 27/10/2018 19:07:09
Locusts are edible...

Indeed they are. I've eaten cooked grasshoppers myself (not very flavorful, I thought). Most people in the western world don't place them high on the list of desirable food, though. The same would probably be true for a locust-potato (especially for the anti-GMO crowd).