German Television Report Features Interview with TRADITOM Coordinator

Why have tomatoes lost their traditional taste? German public broadcaster ZDF has recently published a TV report explaining the TRADITOM approach of restoring traditional tomato crops. The reporter outlines how genetic modifications have contributed to the unintended loss of taste in modern tomato varieties while the audience is provided with a vivid impression of the project consortium’s lab work. In the interview part, TRADITOM coordinator Prof. Antonio Granell gives further insights into this matter explaining how, for instance, genetic modifications made the tomato fruit grow bigger while accidently removing the neighbouring genes responsible for the sweetness of the tomato.

The full video (in German) is available through the ZDF media library

The report has been initiated in response to a joint scientific publication “A chemical genetic roadmap to improved tomato flavor” which can be accessed through the following link:

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/355/6323/391

The paper shows results of a joint research between scientists from two of the TRADITOM partners led by Antonio Granell (CSIC) and Dani Zamir (HUJI) and colleagues from USA and China and reveals some of the molecular genetic basis for good flavour tomatoes still present in traditional varieties. This topic will get further insight in the frame of TRADITOM as we explore the different chemistry and genetics of good flavour tomatoes in the European traditional pool.