Going apple picking at the orchard? They’re all clones : Short Wave : NPR

Going apple picking at the orchard? They’re all clones : Short Wave : NPR

If you picked up a Honeycrisp apple at a grocery store in New York… and then a Honeycrisp in Texas… and then a Honeycrisp in California… they’d all be the exact same genetically. That’s because they’re all from the same original plant.

Stan Dzugan/Getty Images


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Stan Dzugan/Getty Images


If you picked up a Honeycrisp apple at a grocery store in New York… and then a Honeycrisp in Texas… and then a Honeycrisp in California… they’d all be the exact same genetically. That’s because they’re all from the same original plant.

Stan Dzugan/Getty Images

What’s your favorite apple? Maybe it’s the crowd-pleasing Honeycrisp, the tart Granny Smith or the infamous Red Delicious. Either way, before that apple made it to your local grocery store or orchard it had to be invented — by a scientist. So today, we’re going straight to the source: Talking to an apple breeder. Producer Hannah Chinn reports how apples are selected, bred, grown … and the discoveries that could change that process.

Plus, we find out what a “spitter” is.

Want to know how science impacts other food you eat? Email us at shortwave@npr.org and we might cover your food of choice on a future episode!

Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

This episode was produced by Jessica Yung and edited by Rebecca Ramirez. The facts were checked by Tyler Jones. The audio engineer was Kwesi Lee.

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