A Renaissance painting reveals how breeding changed watermelons

[JosephDredd]

Article here (link)

Bottom right is what watermelons looked like 400 years ago.

 

[drstrangelov]

There's a painting of a shark at the mfa in Boston where the shark has human lips, painted in the 18th century. Sometimes the painters just get shit wrong. The article is interesting though, kind of a "no shit" idea once you think about it, but I'd never had the sense to think about it before reading that.

 

[El Chimpo]

The game done changed

 

[Chinballs]

Haha,

This is a picture of a model of lion. It's in a castle from my home town. So back then someone had been to Africa and was telling the nobles about these awesome majestic creatures.... And this is the model recreation

Zimbderp - King of the jungle (PS, you should play the intro music to the Lion King while starring at the model, it improves the experience).

 

[Madmick]

Yep. Yet none of the people who recoil at genetically modified foods bat an eye at the genetic "freakshows" that we have already bred them to be.

Perspective.


P.S. I want a Lawson watermelon grown in the original tradition (for flavor; not skin color, size, fruit ratio, or seedlessness). So sick of this seedless bullshit ruining the taste of the fruit.

 

[punky brewster]

There are different species of watermelons.

 

[Madmick]

^^
Yes, there are. Look at how many of the ones you posted don't have seeds. I hope you don't believe that variation of type explains this discrepancy; in fact, the wide variety of cultivars demonstrates the exact opposite. Most of those "varieties", like dog breeds, were probably developed (and probably mostly post-Mendel) as a result of selective plant breeding.

 

[Chinballs]

Sorry for derailing, but Zimbderp is killing me...

 

[El Chimpo]

Bananas arent even the same

 

[Cayenne]

Yep. Yet none of the people who recoil at genetically modified foods bat an eye at the genetic "freakshows" that we have already bred them to be.

Selective breeding is how things mutate naturally in the wild. Injecting say fish DNA into a strawberry is a little different, it's not surprising it freaks some out.

 

[Madmick]

Selective breeding is how things mutate naturally in the wild.

Selective breeding doesn't occur naturally in the wild. You are trying to differentiate between genetic manipulation (aka gene splicing) and the unnatural acceleration of possible natural mutation by unnatural selection.

Injecting say fish DNA into a strawberry is a little different, it's not surprising it freaks some out.

Mutation is mutation. The only thing to fear is an incomplete understanding of synthetic reproduction or manipulation as we learned so painfully with amino acids; so far I haven't seen anyone who ate a GMO food give birth to a baby without a limb.

 

[Shael]

Bananas arent even the same

Dem wild bananas suck

 

[Viva]

Bananas arent even the same

Rip Grob Michel banana

 

[minute bull]

 

[theocean]

There are different species of watermelons.

some of them cucumbers are huge.

 

[Kick Strickland]

Human breeding got better too

Spoiler

Still probably would ^

 

[Kick Strickland]

double post

 

[JosephDredd]

Haha,

This is a picture of a model of lion. It's in a castle from my home town. So back then someone had been to Africa and was telling the nobles about these awesome majestic creatures.... And this is the model recreation

Zimbderp - King of the jungle (PS, you should play the intro music to the Lion King while starring at the model, it improves the experience).

If I remember the history behind this... and correct me if I'm wrong... an explorer sent an African lion to a European to be stuffed and mounted and the European, having never seen a lion, had to construct it based on the discription. And, even though it looks like derpness, there's one angle you can view it from in which it looks absolutely real, which is pretty amazing.

 

[Chinballs]

If I remember the history behind this... and correct me if I'm wrong... an explorer sent an African lion to a European to be stuffed and mounted and the European, having never seen a lion, had to construct it based on the discription. And, even though it looks like derpness, there's one angle you can view it from in which it looks absolutely real, which is pretty amazing.

Yes, you are right. You know it better than I do.

 

[punky brewster]

Oh, shit....

What if I told you grape soda tasted much different 400 years ago?