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Scientists Grow Decaffeinated Coffee Plants
An anonymous reader writes "According to a CBC News story, researchers have genetically modified coffee seedlings to produce up to 70 per cent less caffeine." The Japanese researchers quoted in the article say "..demand for decaffeinated coffee is growing worldwide. Caffeine can trigger palpitations, increase blood pressure and disrupt sleep in sensitive people", and so "..used a tool called RNA interference to genetically engineer the one-year-old plants." Seems like these boffins may be competing against the University Of Hawaii researchers we mentioned last year to take away your buzz.
I don't know about you, but the only reason I ever even come close to touching coffee is for the caffeine. There are better beverages without caffeine
about as popular as dry water.
Or alcohol-free beer.
"Smoking helps you lose weight - one lung at a time" -- A. E. Neumann
Today's Dilbert seems apropos.
proof, n. A demonstration that a conclusion is implied by certain premises and axioms.
Isn't the caffeine in the coffee the point of coffee?
Omnis amans amens
You would have thought that now scientists have decided they were wrong about cholesterol and that eating margarine rather than butter and cutting out eggs was actually "a really bad idea"(TM the food industry) they'd learn to leave alone.
We spent millions of years to evolving to eat the shit that grows around us - not some factory grown crap that no-one actually has any idea about what it's effects on everything else (us, other plants, the biosphere) might be. Some scientist with too much funding and driven by greedy food corporations (Hi Monsanto!) simply is not going to improve on what we evolved to consume.
Sometimes I despair at the thought that a company will produce "Batchelor Chow" (and then realise they have - it's called Pot Noodle in the UK). And that it won't be Matrix style uber-computers feeding us recycled human but uber-corporations run by humans.
Bad analogies are like waxing a monkey with a rainbow.
I'm kind of surprised that people are so shocked that someone might actually make, or drink, decaffinated coffee. Its not like this is a perversion of nature or something, the point is that there is a huge market out there for the stuff. Millions of people drink decaf every day.
We may not understand it, but the point is that genetically modifying the plant to produce less caffeine is both safer, and tastes better, than whatever god-awful shit they do to it now.
I guess I just think this is a cool, and potentially profitable use for the level of genetic engineering that we are able to do nowadays. If this kind of stuff works, and makes money, then we get to see the really neat stuff down the road!
Yeah, this story left me wanting.
Thank god for instant espresso which allows you to put that extra spoonful in your normal cup...
We already have several methods for removing caffeine from coffee much more efficiently than this, so what is the point. I would have much more respect for work on GMOs if the scientists concentrated more on areas which would benefit mankind rather than business interests.
You can find the time to reduce the caffeine but you can't figure out how to get half the crap out of cigarettes or junk out of fatty foods.
Gimme something of use to me. Caffeine is the only reason I'm starbucks' bitch.
You might be surprised to hear this, but coffee has became probably THE national drink of Japan. It's really an jaw-dropping thing because people usually have a concept where they are sipping green tea all the time.
The thing is, though, that they actually seem to genuinely like the stupid beverage (and almost everybody drinks it black - and by almost i mean 99.9% of the people), because they don't really have any perceptable needs for the caffine.
Being that most everybody is extremely health-conscious here*, it is not surprising that they are making "natural" decaf coffee - or I should say, decaf coffee that has not gone through the decaf cycle (which to many, ruins the taste).
* there is a dichotomy here - because while many guys goes on diets and somesuch, they are almost always horrible workaholics and a large percentage smokes and drinks like it's going out of style. So, it's almost like hipocritical health consciousness - but hypocritical or not, the demand is still there for the low-caffine beverage.
My life in the land of the rising sun.
How about they come up with a Kona plant that grows to maturity in your back yard in less than one month?
It's only funny until someone gets hurt. Then, it's hilarious.
Ask this question of the next coffe drinker you see: "Can you get by a day at work without using mind-altering chemicals? If not, howcome I can't relax in the afternoon with mine?"
We moved so fast to see if we could, nobody asked if we should!
The ultimate network admin tool needs HELP!
Unfortunately, better taste is much less likely to make money for the producer, unless it is a radical improvement. This example, for instance, would allow coffee producers to eliminate a fairly costly step in the production of decaf coffee. Will the price go down? Unlikely, which means instant profits for the coffee companies. This stuff will probably be patented, as well, so the availability will be restricted to those willing to pay.
:-) has been driven by the shippability of the tomatoes, not the taste.
Look at tomatoes, as well. "Regular" tomatoes in the supermarket are mealy and bland. We now have vine-ripened tomatoes (started appearing 5-10 years ago, I think, at about twice the cost), which are somewhat better. They are still a pale shadow of the taste of a home garden-grown tomato. Your "tomato experience"
Most people just buy things that don't taste bad; they don't actively seek out things that taste good. I do, but I think that you and I are relatively unusual. The result is that taste is driven toward the average - not bad, but not good.
Floating face-down in a river of regret...and thoughts of you...
I used to drink about 4 cans of soda and a pot of coffee every day. Cup of coffee and two cigarettes were my breakfast. Caffiene was my lifeblood, but when I decided to quit smoking, I decided that I would be no chemical's bitch. Further, in a fit of masochism, I decided I would get the asshole out of my system all at once, so on the same day, caffiene & nicotine left my life and withdrawal entered it.
I was expecting that getting rid of cigarettes would make me feel better, and it did. My heart stopped pounding, my sense of smell returned, my lung capacity increased, all the things I was led to believe.
What I was not expecting was that quitting caffiene made me feel even better.
I slept better, I woke up with more energy and felt more lively throughout my day. I quit having headaches on the weekends when I decide to sleep late. I found that a 15-minute cat-nap at around five o'clock would let me stay up until two in the morning without any serious repercussions.
In short, in the eighteen months since I gave it up, I have never once considered going back. Giving up caffiene is maybe the best health decision I have ever made.
But, I still love the taste of coffee. I spent years acquiring the taste, and I didn't give up that taste just because I gave up caffiene. Decaf fits my needs. It's got less caffiene than a chocolate bar, and still tastes like coffee. I can get my unleaded and drink it, too.
Now, if they could make caffiene-free coke not suck, I'd be in business.
Living without caffiene is a bit like having TiVO. You have to stop yourself from evangelizing to the people around you constantly, lest you alienate everyone by not shutting up about how great it is.
Even Jesus hates listening to Creed.
Isn't this a contradiction? Black without is where it's at if you're really interested in the flavor of the coffee.
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.