USA — Scientists have come up with a way to modify a rare fruit and make it more accessible to the public.<br /><br />Researchers have genetically modified ground cherries to be larger and easier to grow than those found in the wild, according to a study published in Nature Plants.<br /><br />Ground cherries are usually found in South America as well as Central America, and are as small as a marble.<br /><br />The researchers involved described the taste of the fruit as "tropical yet sour" with a slight hint of vanilla.<br /><br />Ground cherries are also referred to as an "orphan crop" as it is grown on a small scale, but are difficult to produce enough to sell commercially as they often fall onto the ground before they are fully ripe.<br /><br />Scientists used CRISPR, a gene editing tool, to target a gene known as CLAVATA 1 to increase the size of the fruit, which resulted in the fruit becoming 25 percent heavier.<br /><br />Scientists also plan to edit the self-pruning gene found in the ground cherry to stop the plants shoots from continuing to grow once the fruit is ripe.<br /><br />The researchers hope this will help make ground cherries more appealing to the public, as well as inspire other scientists to genetically modify other rare fruits.
