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Farmers want $3.1 million sex change

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Published on November 7th, 2009, 10:28 pm
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... for their papayas!
An effort is underway to perform sex changes on papayas. That's right -- the large, yellowish fruit.

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

University of Illinois plant biology professor Ray Ming has secured a $3.1-million grant from the National Science Foundation to change the papayas' sex in an effort 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.

November 7th, 2009, 10:28 pm   Share
 
Papayas, it turns out, have not just one but three sexes: male, female and hermaphrodite.


Love how the reporter seems shocked.... "three! My God... who could have guessed... you blew my mind... glad that occurs nowhere else in nature".
This is our chance to change things, this is our destiny.
November 8th, 2009, 9:28 am
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Liv
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And it's the hermaphrodites that are the sweetest. :D
November 8th, 2009, 10:41 am
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Though I must warn, there's years of therapy attached.
November 8th, 2009, 11:36 am
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Liv
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I can see it now. In the next Palin campaign appearance, she'll talk about the government wasting money on tree sex engineering. "I kid you not!"
:lol: 8) :mrgreen:
November 9th, 2009, 11:17 am
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SouthernFriedInfidel
 
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Root out those deviant Papayas! God made trees to be male and female. By their Fruits Ye Shall Know* Them. The Papaya is the Forbidden Fruit of Genesis.

* So many euphemisms for sex 25 out of 54
November 9th, 2009, 11:45 am
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A Person wrote:Root out those deviant Papayas! God made trees to be male and female. By their Fruits Ye Shall Know* Them. The Papaya is the Forbidden Fruit of Genesis.

* So many euphemisms for sex 25 out of 54


MSNBC had a special a few nights ago on Michael Berke who basically had his church force him back into his birth gender.... and now he's suicidal and a drug addict.... Way to go God... the preacher still stands by his decision....

Made me want to vomit listening to the preacher....
November 9th, 2009, 2:35 pm
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Liv
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