Sex change: University of Illinois Professor Gets $3.1 Million Grant to Switch Sexes On Papayas

Tribune ^ | November 7, 2009 | By Jodi S. Cohen

[fight_truth_decay]

A University of Illinois faculty member is leading an effort to perform sex changes on papayas. That's right, the large, yellowish, sweet fruit.

Papayas, it turns out, have not just one but three sexes: male, female and hermaphrodite. The third produce the yummy fruit while the male and females are mostly useless to farmers.

U. of I. plant biology professor Ray Ming secured a $3.1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to change the papayas' sex to grow only plants that produce hermaphrodite offspring. Currently, farmers don't know which plants are hermaphrodite until the plants have grown and flowered, meaning they must spend money growing more plants than they can use.

[fight_truth_decay]

[doc1019]

For ten percent, I will do everything I can to switch sexes on coconuts.

[dayglored]

"Hermaphrodite fruit"???

Dang, and I used to like papayas, too...

[fight_truth_decay]

Mother Nature had a sense of humor.

[Mister Muggles]

ohhhhhhh.....how (gasp) sooooo “progressive.”

[bronxville]

Hard to keep one’s sanity anymore. Better to laugh than cry.

[rfp1234]

How much of that NSF grant was directly related to the Porkulus?

[dixjea]

It sounds silly on first read but it makes sense, agriculturally when you understand. Interesting.

[doc1019]

Yea, progressive, that is my middle name … give me money and I will attempt to change the sex of any fruit or animal in existence. Win or lose, the money is mine.

[sourcery]

Papaya, the sailor....woman?

[fight_truth_decay]

[Popeye stops and stares at the floor for a moment.]
"But still," he almost whispers, "every time I said 'I yam what I yam,' I felt like a fraud."

[wideminded]

This actually seems like a good idea as long as the research will benefit “farmers” and not just some particular agribusiness that is getting Uncle Sucker to fund the research. Maybe the resulting technology could generate some licensing fees. Monsanto already has a bunch of patents involving papayas.

[AussieJoe]

That would be the male plant... right?

[wildbill]

I suppose they are called papayas, mamayas, and biyayas in the fruit trade.

[fight_truth_decay]

Was not meant to be a totally serious story. It was whatever anyone wanted it to be. ;)

[fight_truth_decay]

[laughs]

[fight_truth_decay]

Mother Nature must have had a reason.

For instnace: A school of clownfish is always built into a hierarchy with a female fish at the top. When she dies, the most dominant male changes sex and takes her place.