• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Changing Flavors

Changing Flavors

September 25, 2008
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/080925_sciup_flav.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

BOB HIRSHON (host):
Finessing the flavors of fruit…I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

The smell of freshly sliced apple is pleasant to us, but from the apple’s point of view, it’s a desperate cry for help. Plants release scents whenever they’re under stress, and they contain lots of different enzymes to make those compounds.
C.S. Raman is a biochemist at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. He and his colleagues found that they could genetically manipulate one of those scent enzymes and convert it into another.

C.S. RAMAN (UT Medical Center): What you may be able to do is to tinker with them to fine tune some of the flavors. And this is called scent engineering. People have been wanting to change the scent of flowers, fruits, and you name it, to make it more appealing.

HIRSHON: That means one day, scientists might be able to create custom-flavored fruits to suit anyone’s tastes. I’m Bob Hirshon for AAAS, the science society.

Category: Daily ShowTag: Chemistry, Genetics & Evolution, Nutrition & Food Science
Previous Post:Science of Magic
Next Post:Nutrition Roundup

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Cat Video
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • NASA
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Image of computer screen depicting an orange cat with a variety of alphanumeric scientific data superimposed on the the screen.
Spotted skunk performing handstand to threaten predators

Copyright © 2025 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos