/oss/taxonomy/term/271/all en /oss/article/did-you-know/eggplants-contain-nicotine <p>Eggplant seeds (and they have many) <a href="http://www.latimes.com/sns-dailymeal-1813110-healthy-eating-eggplant-contains-nicotine-it-addictive-20170925-story.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">contain nicotinoid alkaloids</a>, which are responsible for the slightly bitter taste of the purple <a href="/oss/article/did-you-know/bananas-are-berries-raspberries-are-not" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">berry</a>. The concentration of nicotine itself is about 100 nanograms per gram of eggplant, compared with 2 milligrams of nicotine per cigarette.</p> Thu, 08 Feb 2018 15:18:47 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD and Ada McVean, OSS Intern 6918 at /oss /oss/article/controversial-science-environment-food-health-news/there-are-no-fish-genes-tomatoes <p>During a public lecture on genetic modification I described an experiment that involved enriching soybeans with the amino acid methionine. Soybeans are widely used to raise animals but are low in this essential amino acid often necessitating the use of methionine supplements. Brazil nuts produce a protein that is particularly rich in methionine so the idea was to isolate and clone the gene that codes for the production of the methionine-rich protein and insert it into the genome of the soybean.</p> Tue, 26 May 2015 10:44:54 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2262 at /oss