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Originally Posted by SemperFidelis
You know why? They lace it with a chemical that basically screws up the number of chromosomes. By screwing up the number of chromosomes, a strawberry gets freakishly large. So yes, we are eating retarded fruits.
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Well, sorta. They took a pair of strawberry plants, let them steep in the compound, then allowed cross-pollenization to occur. This isn't really anything profound, nor is it as detrimental as you seem to portray the matter. Nearly all fruits and vegetables that we purchase are "retarded" hybrids in some fashion.
It's true that manipulating the chromosomal properties can cause abnormalities, but this isn't man playing God, per se. The same mutations would happen normally, albeit with less frequency. We simply observed the phenomenon and learned how to induce it at will.
The parent plants may absorb the chemical, and the direct offspring probably absorb trace amounts from the parent, but after that, the chromosomal changes have been made; there's no reason to further expose the plants to chemicals as long as the altered hybrids will bear seeded fruit.
The actual reason we're given this engineered produce is that hybrids are statistically more fertile than purebreeds; the chances of successful pollenization are higher. Not only that, hybridized fruits and vegetables often bear enhanced resistances to plant viruses, molds, parasites and environmental threats, due to the offspring receiving the best of each parent's defenses. After some calculate chain-breeding, horticulturists have produced some hardy plants that pose no health risk (pesticide sprays notwithstanding).
So freakish strawberries are something that would happen in nature anyhow. There's no cause for alarm.
Jam it back in, in the dark.