Super Coffee
The Brazilian government is sponsoring genetic research to improve the country's coffee. Reuters reports:
After over two years of work, the world's biggest coffee grower is using the DNA map to create the world's biggest genetic data base on the plant. It contains information on the 200,000 DNA sequences, and 35,000 genes that create different aromas and caffeine levels in the beloved tropical bean.
Brazil, known for mass-market "junk" coffee, hopes to use the data to raise production of gourmet, organic and new caffeine-free beans within two years. It also plans to cut coffee prices in Brazil, the world's second-largest coffee consumer.
"We are going to create a super coffee that everyone can benefit from eventually," Brazilian Agriculture Minister Roberto Rodrigues told reporters in Brasilia.
New genetically engineered plants could double coffee production per hectare, experts said, allowing Brazil to cut production costs by 20 percent.
If the Brazilians succeed, with the European Union ban their genetically modified coffee?