Article Title: The shocking science behind the world's hottest chilliesSummary:India's Nagaland contains one of the hottest chillies in the world - the Naga King Chili (Bhut) Jolokia). The author of the article, Mary Roach, came to Nagaland to attend the Hornbill Festival, in particular, to watch the Naga King chili pepper eating competition. His goal was to discover and understand the pleasure and pain that the Capsicum genus brings to people who consume it. Naga King Chili Pepper varies in heat, but can score extremely high in the Scoville heat unit. Competitors in the chili pepper eating competition began to suffer from the effect of capsaicin on their digestive tracts. Some had hot flashes and unbearable heat from the inside, others, like the winner of the competition, vomited at the end of the competition. Some contestants managed to eat only a few of the Naga King Chili, while others ate up to fourteen chilies. Capsaicin tolerance, according to the article, is largely based on practice. Only a small part is due to genetics. Capsaicin damages pain receptors over time, so if someone continually eats hot chili peppers, the pain receptors in their nerves will slowly degenerate and become less sensitive. Mary Roach was able to taste Naga King Chili in small doses, which bring out the wonderful flavors that would otherwise be overwhelmed by the heat of the capsaicin. The heat and lineage of a fruit depends greatly on the growing conditions in which it is found. Soil, rainfall and climate are factors that could potentially alter a plant. Rather, the author wonders whether Naga King Chili would be spicier if it were grown in an area with different growing conditions. Even in the regions right next to Nagaland, it can... middle of paper ......opens up more food choices for consumers. Concluding Paragraph: The article talked about the science behind hot chili peppers like King Naga Chili. Capsaicin can be very hot and intolerable and even harmful to the human body. The tolerability of chili peppers to the spiciness is due to the environment rather than genetics. Just like in class, we learned that a trait (phenotype) is the product of genetics and environment. Sometimes, as in the case of capsaicin tolerance, the environment can have a greater effect on the outcome than genetics. Additionally, different growing conditions of a fruit can cause the fruit to taste different. Genetic engineering can be used to alter a fruit's ability to survive different growing conditions and can make a fruit, such as super-hot chili peppers, more tolerable to the general public. This can increase the consumption of different types of food.