Choose any ingredient of any recipe (I will make the recipe out of the ingredient you choose) and carry out literature research to identify research articles about the evolution of that food item. (These can focus on any evolutionary mechanism, including artificial selection). Identify a minimum of 5 articles (at least 3 should be ‘primary articles’ that include data; others can be high-quality popular science, book chapters, or (peer-reviewed) review articles). If you find more than 5, that’s great! You can be creative here. For example, if you focus on the tomato, I might identify studies on genes in the tomato itself, on tomato viruses, on pest insects that eat tomatoes, or on other insects that control the pests. You can think broadly here to find studies that are interesting to you. The final write-up should focus mostly on one primary article (or two at the most).
Write a one page essay on evolution of that particular ingredient. It should describe a primary scientific article (or two) investigating one of the ingredients in your recipe. The scientific content covered should be relevant to course topics (evolution, genetics), but the writing can use a more creative style. For example, you may personalize the essay with an anecdote, discuss ethical implications, etc, as long as the essay also contains information about the relevant scientific discoveries in your chosen article(s).
