Botany of Desire - Rhea

 In our AP Biology class, we watched The Botany of Desire, a documentary based on Michael Pollan’s book, which presents the idea that plants have evolved to appeal to human desires in order to thrive and spread. The film explores our co-evolution with the four plants: apples, tulips, cannabis, and potatoes.

One of the most surprising things I learned was that every apple seed produces a genetically unique apple tree due to sexual reproduction and meiosis. I had heard of Johnny Appleseed before, but I didn’t realize the extent of his influence on apples. Johnny Chapman traveled the Ohio River Valley planting apple seeds rather than using grafting, which allowed for increased genetic variation and adaptation to new environments. This ties directly to what we’ve learned about evolution this year that variation is key for survival. Apples originally came from Central Asia and were brought west through the Silk Road. The apples’ sweetness made the apples desirable to humans, who then spread the trees globally. However, modern apples are mostly grown using grafting to ensure uniformity, which limits genetic diversity and has led to heavy pesticide use due to vulnerability in monocultures.

I found the part about tulips to be very fascinating. I was especially intrigued by Tulip Mania in 17th-century Holland, where tulip bulbs were valued so highly that one tulip could be sold for the equivalent of a Fifth Avenue house in Amsterdam. Tulips, which are angiosperms, originally came from Central Asia and were favored by both bees and humans for their symmetry, vibrant colors, and pleasant scents. People have bred tulips into many forms to please our sense of beauty, even though the tulips start losing 15% of the tulips value each day after the tulips are cut. What shocked me most was that the most valuable tulips, known as “broken” tulips, were actually infected with a virus that created such patterns. However, these infected tulips couldn’t be transported and were harder to cultivate. 

The cannabis segment explored humanity’s desire for intoxication and how this plant has evolved to meet that need. Cannabis was used for medical purposes like pain relief long before being made illegal in the 20th century. Today, cannabis is still used medicinally in many places and remains culturally significant, like in Amsterdam. The plant produces THC, a psychoactive molecule that binds to receptor proteins in the brain, affecting memory, appetite, and perception which directly relates to what we’ve studied about cellular signaling. Cannabis has been selectively bred into strains like sativa (taller plants) and indica (shorter plants). The plant’s natural resin, meant to catch pollen or deter pests, evolved into a substance that makes humans feel good, ensuring the plant’s survival and spread. Over 750,000 people are arrested each year for cannabis possession, showing just how powerful humans’ relationship with this plant has become.

The potato’s story highlighted our desire for control, especially over food production. Domesticated in the Andes Mountains about 8,000 years ago, the potato became a staple crop thanks to the potatoes’ high yield and adaptability. There are more than 5,000 varieties, each suited to different climates and conditions. When the potato was introduced to Europe, the potato supported population growth and industrialization. However, Ireland’s reliance on a single potato variety backfired when a fungus arrived in 1845 and devastated crops, causing the Irish Potato Famine and over a million deaths. The potato famine is a powerful example of the danger of monocultures and the importance of biodiversity. Recently, potatoes were genetically modified with the BT gene (Bacillus thuringiensis) to resist the Colorado potato beetle, connecting to the AP biology unit on biotechnology and genetic engineering. While BT crops reduce the need for chemical pesticides, the BT crops also raise questions about long-term ecological impacts. Backlash and public protests caused restaurants like McDonald’s to reject and stop using GMO potatoes.

Watching The Botany of Desire helped me see plants as active participants in the plants’ relationship with humans. Each plant story revealed how human desires have shaped the plants’ evolution, and how those plants have influenced the course of human history in return.