This is the surprising science behind the potato breed in your bag of chips

Michigan professor David Douches explains why the perfect chipping potato is so hard to find.

Potato chips move along a conveyor at a Better Made Snack Foods processing facility in Detroit, on Thursday, April 2, 2026 [Photo: Mike Householder/AP Photo]

There’s a surprising amount of science in a bag of potato chips.Researchers have spent decades developing potatoes for chip makers that can grow in all kinds of climates, avoid diseases and pests, sit in storage for months and still deliver a satisfying crunch. They’ve also kept an eye on consumer trends; a shift to snack-size portions has increased the demand for smaller chipping potatoes, for example.“The potato industry is dynamic,” said David Douches, a Michigan State University professor who leads the school’s Potato Breeding and Genetics Program. “The needs change, the costs, the pressures that they have, and the markets change. So we have to adapt to that with our varieties.”Douches has developed five new potato varieties for chips in the the last 15 years. His latest breakthrough is a bioengineered potato that can maintain a proper sugar balance when stored at colder temperatures, which can help keep potatoes from rotting. He is currently growing seeds for commercial testing of the........

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