A new Texas A&M AgriLife Research study shows consumers are willing to pay more for flavorful, vividly colored tomatoes regardless of origin– evidence that sensory traits, not just a “local” label, drive what people value most in fresh produce.

Published in Agribusiness, the peer-reviewed study was led by Samuel Zapata, Ph.D., an associate professor in Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Agricultural Economics, based at the Texas A&M University Higher Education Center at McAllen.

For the first time, scientists have grown functional, brain-like tissue without using any animal-derived materials or added biological coatings. The development opens the door to more controlled and humane neurological drug testing.

A team led by Cleveland Clinic’s Kenneth Merz, PhD, and IBM’s Antonio Mezzacapo, PhD, is developing quantum computing methods to simulate and study supramolecular processes that guide how entire molecules interact with each other.  

In their study, published in Nature Communications Physics, researchers focused on molecules’ noncovalent interactions, especially hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic species. These interactions, which involve attraction and repulsive forces between molecules or parts of the same molecule, play an important role in protein folding, membrane assembly and cell signaling.