Proving that nothing in the world is sacred, your favorite coffee beans could soon be genetically modified – as scientists have finally sequenced the coffee genome. According to a new article published in the journal Science , an international team of researchers has sequenced the genome of coffea canephora, otherwise known as coffee robusta – which provides more than a third of the world with their morning java. What does this mean? According to the Washington Post , it could signal an end to the artificial extraction of caffeine to create decaf, as beans could be modified to grow caffeine-free. It could also boost coffee’s healthy components like antioxidants while making the beverage less acidic, or create a more disease and climate change-resistant bean – although the Washington Post notes this could also be achieved by better breeding practices.
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Post tags: agriculture, bean, caffeine, coffee, crops, decaf, genome, GMO, mapping, plant, robusta, scientists
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