Simpson Fan Grows Tomacco

Press Release - October 2003
To: KPTV 12 News
Subject: Tomacco exists!

I thought you might be interested in the following local story as a 10 O'clock news lead into this season's premier of The Simpsons.

I am a fan of Fox 12's The Simpsons, and episode # 1105 [1] is my favorite. Homer had exposed a variety of seeds to Plutonium and Tomacco was the only thing that grew. A foul tasting tomato that made everyone addicted after one nasty bite. I thought it sounded familiar and I found a 1968 reprint of a 1959 Scientific American article where a scientist had grafted tomato tops to tobacco roots and gotten nicotine in the tomato plant since the tobacco root produces the nicotine.

I have created live Tomacco here in Lake Oswego. I grew tomato and tobacco from seed and grafted then together creating a tomato plant with tobacco roots. The leaves and fruit of the tomato top should have nicotine in them. I have moved the plant inside. Fruit is now 1.7 inches in diameter.

How I created Tomacco:
I grew the tomato and tobacco plants side by side and cut both stems open and wrapped them together. The two plants fused and then I cut off the tomato root leaving the tomato plant dependent on the tobacco root for water, nutrients and nicotine! 

I do not plan on tasting Tomacco since the fatal dose of nicotine is only 50 to 60 milligrams [3].

I did an internet search and found no one else had grown Tomacco yet. This is yet another connection between Portland and the Simpsons.

The fruit is red now and I plan on getting it tested for nicotine. A local lab has offered to do the testing for free! I am going to try to schedule the testing done this Friday, October 24th

"E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)"
1105 AABF19
Original Airdate: 11/07/99
Homer begins challenging everyone around him to duels after he sees a Zorro film at the Googoplex. Most people back down, until Homer meets an old-fashioned Colonel who takes him up on his dare. Unable to get out of the contest with the Colonel, Homer and his family flee to the country, where they become farmers. Farm life is difficult until Homer creates a new crop called tomacco--tomatoes crossed with tobacco. The new fruit is disgusting to eat, but incredibly addictive. Selling barrel upon barrel of tomacco, Homer attracts the attention of some tobacco industry executives who want to capitalize on his new crop. Will Homer sell his cash crop for a pile of cash? Why are all the animals who ate tomacco suddenly going berserk? Would it really have been so bad to duel that Colonel after all?

http://www.chemsoc.org/exemplarchem/entries/2002/hook/nicotine.htm