Can Scientists Make the Best Strawberries and Chocolate?

Scientists from Penn State University, the University of Florida and CIRAD in France have published in Nature Genetics that they have mapped the genetic codes for strawberries and chocolate. They believe that this means that new varieties can be made that could not only be tastier but also healthier.

The chocolate, from the Theobroma cacoa, is one of the finest types of chocolate in the world. by modifying the genetics, there is a potential for greater productivity allowing farmers to earn more and make the production more sustainable.

The woodland strawberry, has the potential to be made more tasty and more hardy allowing it to be farmed a lot more easily.

So would you buy the most delicious strawberries dipped in chocolate in the world?

To find out more:

Original papers: Argout et al (2010), The genome of Theobroma cacao. Nature Genetics.

Shulaev et al (2010),  The genome of woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca). Nature Genetics.

Articles: Scientists crack genetic code of strawberries dipped in chocolate, Telegraph

Mystery melts as chocolate DNA decoded, Guardian