Short Wave An Apple Is An Ovary: The Science of Apple Breeding
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Nov 18, 2025 
Susan Brown, head of the apple breeding program at Cornell AgriTech, delves into the fascinating world of apple genetics and breeding. She explains the intricate process of hand pollination, where pollen is collected to create new varieties. Discover how breeders taste-test thousands of hybrids, discarding those that don't meet expectations, famously known as 'spitters.' Brown also discusses the importance of genetic diversity in apples and how innovative DNA testing could speed up the breeding process for future varieties.
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Cloning Apples Through Grafting
- Susan Brown demonstrates apple propagation by taking a bud or leaf and grafting it onto rootstock to clone a tree.
- This makes grocery-store Rosalie and orchard Rosalie genetically identical because they come from the same original plant.
Breeders Improve Apples For Storability
- Breeders create most commercial apple varieties by intentionally crossing parents to improve traits like storability and disease resistance.
- The goal is to reduce loss from orchard to store and make apples more marketable and durable.
Hand-Pollinate To Control Parentage
- To make a controlled cross, breeders remove petals and anthers (emasculation) to prevent bee pollination and then hand-apply chosen pollen.
- They then hand-pollinate each stigma twice during the short flowering window to ensure the desired cross.