Potatoes Evolved From Tomatoes, Study Reveals
That’s it. That’s the news. Genome biologist Sanwen Huang knows a thing or two about potatoes. But his latest potato breakthrough may be his most shocking yet: potatoes are descended from tomatoes. In a Cell paper published today, Huang’s team reports that the modern potato likely emerged about 9 million years ago, when tomato plants married the etuberosum, a potato-like species common to Chile. The origin of the modern potato has puzzled scientists for years, but the new results finally give p