Human Flower Project
Rome, ITALY
London, ENGLAND
Christchurch, NEW ZEALAND
Monday, October 06, 2008
Transscentuals
As scientists in Israel experiment with odor-bending flowers, how will you recognize a rose?
“Frankenflower”
Photo: Larry Schodts
Integrity, right up there with “humility,” is one of those traits easier to recognize than to pin down. Careful. Whoever lays claim to either one will be instantly disqualified.
Hard to come by in humans, integrity remains a dream we confer on flowers (maybe for the very reason they can’t assert it for themselves). Yes, we know snapdragons have been hybridized into dwarves that don’t lean over, and there may be blue roses on the way. Scent was bred out of flowers in the process of making them more durable, for shipping. But today we’ve come upon what strikes us as the most serious blow to floral integrity yet – transscentuals.
“Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have successfully introduced the genes from a rose into a petunia and from a rose into a carnation. They have also swapped smells between carnations, petunias and clarcias.” We don’t have any idea what a clarcia is but we sure don’t want our carnations smelling that way!