Weizmann Institute of Science Wild tomatoes that grow in South America, the ancient relatives of modern varieties, harbor genes for numerous desirable traits – flavor, aroma, resistance to disease – that have in some cases been lost in the process of domestication and breeding. Breeders are currently investigating the possibility of reintroducing these lost wild traits into cultivated tomatoes. Their efforts will now get a boost from an enormous database covering genetic and metabolic traits of both wild and cultivated tomatoes, created by researchers headed by Prof. Asaph Aharoni at the Weizmann Institute of Science in a collaboration with scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and elsewhere.