Genetics of the Beautiful “Glass Gem” Corn
Corn gone viral? You’re looking at an ear of a corn variety called “Glass Gem”, grown by Greg Schoen of Seeds Trust. This is real corn! How does it grow this way?
First you have to understand a few things about corn. Each corn kernel is actually a sort of unique plant. A corn plant’s male parts (the “tassels”) sit at the top of the stalk, and drop pollen downward. Unfertilized ears (the female parts) catch the pollen with the sticky ends of their corn silks. Each corn silk (I hate when that gets in my teeth) grabs a pollen grain, shuttles it allllllll the way down inside the ear, eventually creating one kernel for each pollen-silk-ovum combination. It’s one of the more interesting and inefficient breeding schemes I know of.
If you’ve taken genetics, you know that the parents’ genes will combine by chance, leading to certain ratios of inheritance in the offspring. This is the basis of Mendelian genetics (great Khan Academy video here).
With corn, we’ve simply carefully bred all the interestingness out of them. Native Americans were used to multi-colored corn, because corn plants held many varieties of color genes that could combine at random. Now all we are left with are one-color clones.
This “Glass Gem” corn is the other extreme of the spectrum, a combination of corn color hybrid genes and random pollination. It’s almost too pretty to eat!
(via Discover Magazine)
I’m Ashleigh, I’m 16 and from Nsw, Australia. c:
I am currently a size 16/18 AUS. I think that’s 12/14 USA?
My mum came home with this beautiful bright red dress for herself, but she didn’t think it looked right on her, so she gave it to me!
I, personally think it looks quite smashing on myself. :)Please excuse the messy and and smudged makeup, I just got home from school (haha)
Dress & belt ; Best and Less. Size 16 (AUS)
Topanga: I will never forget you. You were more of a father to me than my own dad.
Shawn: You, uh…never gave up on me. Never once. I’m not gonna forget you. You’re the best person I know.
Eric: I don’t know what’s gonna happen to me, but, I do know that I’m going to be a good person who cares about people. And I blame you for that.
Cory: So, you coming with us Mr.Feeny? You’re gonna sneak up on us in Central Park or something?
Mr. Feeny: No, I should remain here.
Cory: No, you’ll always be with us. As long as we live, okay?
(Source: luiseq)
Via The hopeful yet hopeless romantic.
A Knight’s Tale (2001)
Change your stars and live a better life than I have
Via trinkets in the grotto
Oscar de la Renta Spring 2013 bridal collection
“Okay… you know what? I don’t feel protected. You try living for 15 years thinking that you’re one person, and then in five minutes, you find out you’re a princess. Just in case I wasn’t enough of a freak already, let’s add a tiara!” - The Princess Diaries (2001)
(Source: katnisses)
Via trinkets in the grotto
