The humble potato — long celebrated as a staple food and driver of historic empires — has just had its deepest secret uncovered: it is, quite literally, a child of the tomato. As reported by El País, a groundbreaking genetic study led by Chinese scientists has revealed that the potato originated from a natural hybrid between a tomato plant and a now-extinct species known as tuberosum.
This unexpected discovery was published June 30 in the prestigious journal Cell and solves a botanical mystery that has puzzled scientists for decades. “We have finally solved the mystery,” said Sanwen Huang, lead researcher at the Shenzhen Institute of Agricultural Genomics, a major research hub affiliated with the Chinese government. “The potato emerged around nine million years ago in South America, through a natural genetic cross that changed world agriculture forever.”
The finding gives new scientific weight to American historian William McNeill’s famous claim — made in a provocative essay over 25 years ago — that the potato was a silent engine behind global power. McNeill argued that this tuber, domesticated 10,000 years ago in the Andes and introduced to Europe by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century, was responsible for fueling European imperial expansion from 1750 to 1950 by supporting rapidly growing populations.
The new study examined the complex DNA of over 60 related species and identified a key genetic twist: the gene responsible for tuber formation — known as SP6A — actually came from tomato plants. This gene acts like a biological switch, telling the plant when to begin storing nutrients underground. “It’s normal for the fruit and the tuber to look different,” said Zhiyang Zhang, the study’s lead author, “but genetically, the plants are closely related. We were surprised that the potato is a descendant of the tomato.”
According to El País, the potato’s evolutionary leap likely occurred during the dramatic uplift of the Andes mountains. The new hybrid plants, equipped with energy-rich underground storage organs, adapted rapidly to colder high-altitude climates and underwent what researchers call “explosive diversification.” Today, more than 100 wild potato species exist, and over one billion people rely on the cultivated varieties as a dietary staple.
But the potato’s story is far from complete. Spanish biologist Salomé Prat, from the Center for Research in Agrigenomics in Barcelona, told El País that although scientists now understand the gene that triggers tuber formation, the biological cascade that follows — how the underground stem thickens and accumulates starch and protein — remains a mystery. “If we figure out all the genes involved,” Prat said, “we could engineer future plants that produce both grains and tubers — essentially, cereals and potatoes in one.”
Hybrid potato-tomato plants have already been attempted. The study references a 1978 experiment by Spanish geneticist Marisol Sacristán, who managed to crudely merge a cherry tomato plant with a potato plant. Though the technology was rudimentary at the time, the team believes that modern knowledge of their shared lineage could eventually make such dual-crop plants a reality — though likely not soon.
The stakes are high. “China has gone all in on potatoes,” said Prat. “They’ve realized it’s a super-productive crop. You can harvest a lot with very little land.” Today, China is the world’s largest producer of potatoes, cultivating over 50,000 square kilometers — an area roughly the size of Slovakia.
The new study was a massive international collaboration, involving a dozen Chinese institutions and research centers from the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Germany. Colombian scientist Susy Echeverría, who completed her doctorate at Imperial College London, also contributed significantly. Echeverría emphasized that the potato’s evolutionary success came not just from when it emerged, but how: “The development of tubers came from a unique mix of genes from different lineages — it’s a product of genetic innovation.”
