Tomatoes Don’t Kill Humans, And We Just Figured Out Why
22nd February 2025
Rumored to have killed the Roman emperor Augustus, nightshade’s berries are notoriously deadly. Tomatoes belong to the same plant family, Solanaceae, and produce toxic steroidal glycoalkaloids too.
Yet, generally, tomatoes don’t kill us.
Once believed to be poisonous, tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) actually convert their bitter toxins into something more palatable and less deadly. Sichuan University biologist Feng Bai and colleagues have now identified the genetic mechanisms involved in the tomato fruit’s safe transformation.