Inventing a Better Apple

The apples you can buy at the grocery store have gotten profoundly better over the past few decades. It’s a kind of everyday, hiding-in-plain sight innovation.  Kate Evans is an apple breeder and professor at Washington State University. Kate's problem is this: How do you invent a better apple?

With her team, Kate has in fact invented a new kind of apple called the Sunflare. It’s arriving in stores in a few years. She also helped to invent the Cosmic Crisp, which is out already.

In this episode, Kate explains: 

• Why grocery-store apples have gotten so much better
• Why some of the most delicious apples never make it into stores 
• Why it takes decades to invent a new kind of apple
• How much more we have to learn about apple genetics 
• How the apple industry is adapting to climate change 

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