Leaving discussion of the ethics, risks, or costs of genetic engineering and the like aside (please), I’d be curious to get peoples ideas on what sort of bioengineered fruit they’d like to see. I’m talking probably doable, so a realistic pathway would be good, no “peaches with fruit the size of pumpkins that fix their own nitrogen and can grow in standing water” type stuff. More along the lines of “GMO chestnut with oxalate oxydase for blight resistance” or “use somatic hybridization to breed X feature from Y plant into the related plant Z.”
Part of my curiosity is to see what kinds of interesting things could be envisioned that might actually be within the realm of feasibility (if not practicality, which is a much narrower criteria sadly). Given the number of people with very specific subject matter knowledge, I’m guessing there are some really niffy ideas floating around.
Any delicious berry, full of antioxidants, that tastes disgusting and/or is extremely poisonous to birds. They’d still peck every last one to make sure, but at least they’d have a bad time and an excuse for not bothering to finish a single one of them. Is that too close to rice paddy peaches?
Edit: Frost tolerant mandarins or kumquat plants are my second choice. I’ll stick to the bird-spiteful, less useful first option if it’s acceptable.
As soon as I’m done trying all the great existing varieties i have in my bucket list I’ll get straight to that. For starters I’m going to need a few extra acres of land.