Are Seedless Fruits Genetically Modified?

Many people wonder how seedless fruit can possibly be made, if not by genetic modification. However, in reality, seedless fruit is created through various marvels of human intervention and cultivation techniques and is rarely genetically modified. 

Confusion often comes from misunderstandings about the meaning of genetic modification. According to the FDA's definition, a genetically modified organism is one that has its DNA altered or has another organism's DNA added to it. While lots of fruit and veggies sold today have been manmade, this doesn't mean they've had their DNA altered. Most seedless fruit is made through human involvement in natural processes: selective breeding, exploitation of natural mutations, plant grafting, and chromosome crossing.

Selective breeding has been practiced for about 12,000 years and involves breeding two parent plants with desirable traits to create a best-of-both-worlds offspring plant. A modern example is the seedless watermelon, which comes from crossing a standard watermelon plant with one chemically treated when young, causing it to develop extra chromosomes. Any watermelon plants from these parents will bear seedless fruit. However, seedless fruit also occurs naturally, through a plant mutation known as parthenocarpy, which is a part of the science behind seedless oranges. A branch of a naturally mutated orange tree can be cut off and grafted onto the base of a normal tree with no mutation to produce seedless fruit, a practice that has been around for more than 4,000 years.

While long-standing techniques for making seedless fruit have been practiced for thousands of years, lab-based genetic modification only began in the 1970s. Compared to traditional agricultural techniques, this process allows more immediate and specific changes to an organism. In human terms, you can compare the traditional technique of selective breeding to arranged marriages. Pairing parents with desirable traits doesn't mean their child will have the desired traits from each parent. Selective breeding involves trial and error, and time for generations to mature. Meanwhile, genetic engineering can be compared to designer babies, where genetic material is altered in vitro to remove (or add) traits, such as genetic diseases.

Genetic modification is comparatively new and sometimes viewed with suspicion, causing companies like Trader Joe's to align with customer demands by not stocking genetically modified products in their own-brand items. Since 2022, any food produced with more than 5% genetically modified ingredients is required to have a "bioengineered" label on it, making it easy to spot in the grocery aisle.

Still, there are plenty of prevalent myths about genetic modification floating around, so take time to get educated on what the term actually means. Just know it's not required to make seedless fruit.