It's everyone's favorite fruit.
It's everyone's favorite sport.
It's a watermelon seed spitting contest.
Not only is it the most competitive
event at your county fair,
but it might also be the most dangerous.
Ever wonder what would happen
if you accidentally swallowed
a watermelon seed?
Could a watermelon vine
grow in your stomach?
How could something so small
survive the destructive pool of acid
that sits in your stomach?
How big would it grow?
And would growing fruit in your body
mean you'd never have to make
another trip to the market?
Or would it result in a
very long stay in the hospital?
It doesn't happen often,
but seeds can grow inside you.
A 28-year old Russian
who went to the hospital
complaining of chest pain
was rushed into surgery
when doctors discovered
a 5 cm (2 in) fir tree growing in his lung.
And in Massachusetts,
a 75-year-old man was also treated
for a growth in his lung,
after a pea seed in his food
went down the wrong tube.
But to survive and thrive
in a habitat as hostile as your stomach,
it would have to be
one really determined seed.
Your stomach secretes enzymes
and hydrochloric acid
that break down any food you swallow,
and it kills any harmful microbes
that might've hitched a ride in.
The hydrochloric acid in your stomach
is so strong that it even poses a risk
to the organ it's meant to protect.
This is why your stomach
also secretes a mucus.
It lines your stomach walls
so that the acid doesn't burn through.
So if any seed has a chance
of surviving in your stomach,
it's going to have to adapt and evolve,
and fast.
Unfortunately, you'll feel every grip and blow
of this biological grudge match.
So prepare for the worst stomach ache
of your life.
You may never eat another piece of fruit again.
In a world where seeds
could easily grow in your stomach,
the demand for
seedless fruits and vegetables
would skyrocket.
Even if it meant
the price of produce would jump.
Because of all the extra time it would take
to remove every little seed,
people would rather pay more,
or not at all,
for the privilege of not turning into a fruit tree.
This would be a world in which
seeds have adapted to grow
much faster than ever before,
since it normally takes several weeks
for a seed to germinate,
while the stomach digests its food
within a few hours.
Seeds need warmth, moisture,
and oxygen to germinate,
and you'll find all of that in the stomach.
But you'll also find hydrochloric acid.
The hydrochloric acid would have no trouble
dissolving a seed's protective coating,
which would allow the seed to
absorb some water and start to grow.
The seed would then move on
to the duodenum,
which is the start of your small intestine.
This is where your body starts to absorb
vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.
Inside the duodenum, it's dark and moist,
with neutral pH levels.
The first sprouts from a seed
could grow here,
but they would need to be tough enough
to survive the intestinal juices.
Assuming that the plant growing inside you
could survive this intestinal assault,
it might steal some of the nutrients
you're trying to digest.
And if the plant were able
to get enough nutrients,
it might even start to grow flowers
and produce fruit.
Hopefully, you would have gone to the hospital
long before this point,
because with branches, flowers, and fruit
growing inside you,
the pain would be unbearable.
And it would only get worse.
Plants typically grow towards the Sun.
Would they try to grow their way out of us
to catch some rays?
Or would they continue to take nutrients
from the other foods we digest?
Would we start to form
a symbiotic relationship with the plant,
where we'd give it some nutrients,
it would grow fruit,
and we'd digest it and grow the new seeds?
If that's the case,
you'd better be extra careful about
which seeds you swallow.
Some of them, like the apple seed, are toxic.
Apples, along with more than
2,000 other plant species,
produce
In large doses,
they can cause cyanide poisoning,
neurological disorder,
and delay or slow growth.
The best thing you could do,
in a world where seeds can
grow in your stomach,
is not to eat any seeds
under any circumstances.
Pay the extra money for the seedless fruit.
Put your life before your pride,
and walk away from that
seed-spitting contest.
You'll thank us later
when you're not a walking watermelon.
Luckily, we don't live in a world
where that's a risk.
The possibility of seeds germinating
and growing in the stomach is
While there have been rare cases
of plants growing in the lungs,
the stomach is much too harsh an environment
for any seed to survive there.
But speaking of harsh environments,
we've got a new show
that focuses on just that,
and it might even save your life one day.
Have you ever wondered if it's possible
to survive something
as deadly as a solar storm?
Well, we've got tips on that, and more,
in our new show HOW TO SURVIVE.