Tomatoes can be bred with insect-resistant genes instead of pesticides

Wild tomato plants produce a natural insect repellent that could be bred into garden varieties, creating insect-resistant tomatoes without the use of harmful pesticides.   Researchers from Michigan State University discovered that a wild variety of tomato, the Solanum pennellii plant native to the Atacama Desert in Peru, produces a sticky compound in the tips of the trichomes (hairs) of the plant. The sticky substance on the hairs repels insects and likely evolved as a defense mechanism to ensure future reproduction. In a new study published in the …