When preparing green beans for cooking many people chop off both ends. Every once in a while you come across a green bean that is horseshoe shaped. Well that is good luck because it makes it easier to chop both ends off in one cut.

It wouldn't be genetic engineering but just selective breeding that could eventually make all of the green beans be shaped like that since it happens to occur naturally. Shorter beans stack inside longer beans and thus your preparation time would be dramatically reduced.
-- sartep, Jun 02 2004

[sartep] switch to snake beans - much healthier and you can bend them round to allow one-slice top and tailing!
-- ConsulFlaminicus, Jun 02 2004


Sorry, but I eat the "tails".
-- FarmerJohn, Jun 02 2004


Yeah, I only snap off one end.
-- waugsqueke, Jun 02 2004


Why stop with horseshoes? Why not full circle (Cheerio) beans that have no ends at all?
-- ldischler, Jun 02 2004


I just ate some fiddlehead ferns just last night. Mmm good.
-- sartep, Jun 02 2004


[later edit] <writes in notebook> aliens eat fiddle ferns... </win>
-- k_sra, Jun 02 2004


I had green beans last night, trimmed only one end, two or three at a time.
-- joking victim, Jun 02 2004


I 'spose your next question is 'why'?
-- sartep, Jun 02 2004


Cold, pickled, three (or four) horseshoe bean salad. Mmm.
-- dpsyplc, Jun 02 2004


Easier way to do it than selective breeding.

Put the forming beans in little horseshoe molds.
-- DesertFox, Jun 02 2004


//I just realized the image I posted, looks like some sort of alien coupling.//

Doesn't look like anyone I know.
-- sartep, Jun 02 2004


Why not genetically modify it? There is no difference in result. Also molds might or might not work, depending on the way beans grow. Even if it does work think of the millions of beans to be individually molded! No, genetic modification is the most practical option.
-- bluebeaversscrubbingourfloors, Aug 25 2009



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