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IBM To Help Sequence the Chocolate Genome

Posted by timothy on from the 'bout-time-they-got-some-real-priorities dept.

Dekortage writes "The New York Times reports this morning that IBM will work with Mars — the candy company who makes M&Ms and Snickers, among other things — on a five year project to sequence the cocoa genome. According to Howard-Yana Shapiro, global director of plant science at Mars, the goal is to 'discover the genetic building blocks of traits like disease and pest resistance, drought tolerance and perhaps flavor.' Additionally, the project's results will be available for free from the Public Intellectual Property Resource for Agriculture."

95 comments

  1. Damn! by trolltalk.com · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Hopefully some asshat (Monsanto!!!) won't patent it!

    --
    Kevin Smith on Prince
    1. Re:Damn! by Linuss · · Score: 1, Informative

      The genome will be freely available to anyone who wants it. Mars said in its press release that this won't be patented, and the fricken OP says it, too.

    2. Re:Damn! by n6kuy · · Score: 1

      No, but if they make any genetic modifications that result in flavor^h^h^h^h^h^h money enhancement, you betcha they'll patent THAT.

      --
      If you disagree with me on social issues, then it's pretty clear that you are a narrow-minded bigot.
    3. Re:Damn! by Linuss · · Score: 1

      so we'll make our own genetic modifications that result in flavor^g^g^g^g^g^g money enhancement.

    4. Re:Damn! by X0563511 · · Score: 5, Funny

      First, people stopped reading the articles. Next, they stopped reading the summaries.

      I think we are now at the point where people stop reading the comments. Next after that, people will stop reading what they typed, and from that what they are typing. In only a few short steps Slashdot will become the biggest random number generator in existance.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    5. Re:Damn! by jesdynf · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm sorry, but... did you SEE your handle?

      --
      Yahoo! Pipes are awesome. How awesome? http://pipes.yahoo.com/jesdynf/slashdot
    6. Re:Damn! by Drooling+Iguana · · Score: 2, Funny

      4. Profit!

      --
      ... I'm addicted to placebos
    7. Re:Damn! by owlnation · · Score: 5, Funny

      I think we are now at the point where people stop reading the comments. Next after that, people will stop reading what they typed, and from that what they are typing. In only a few short steps Slashdot will become the biggest random number generator in existance.
      Like Digg then?
    8. Re:Damn! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      jabberwacky gobblechicken pheremone hockey jungle sex three way, poker sex sweaty sex arlapoodoo monkey balls.
       
      Oops... I mean, mod parent up!

    9. Re:Damn! by CRiMSON · · Score: 0, Redundant

      345l;k32l231jkl12kljwkl e23wjk4123kl4jk 120-341908419028 14123lk4j k1j4kl12jkl 312jkl4j

      --
      oogly boogly!
    10. Re:Damn! by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      39 39 A8 A0 39 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 7B 83 F9

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    11. Re:Damn! by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      Touche!

      But it's not totally random - I (randomly) grabbed a joystick from my desk and read the product number off the bottom. My new handle was born. I was not feeling very creative at the time...

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    12. Re:Damn! by An+ominous+Cow+art · · Score: 1

      That's odd, I don't recall seeing any press releases by K'breel, the speaker for the Council of Elders.

    13. Re:Damn! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so leik when doremja nfjajr jgpookl lajihge?

    14. Re:Damn! by razorh · · Score: 1

      09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

    15. Re:Damn! by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      Glad somebody caught that.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    16. Re:Damn! by notthatwillsmith · · Score: 1

      It's ok, he came from Compuserve.

  2. I'm willing to help, too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    However I will need MANY samples... from all over the world. For thoroughness of course.

  3. Chocolate Gnome plan by Noren · · Score: 2, Funny

    1. Sequence cocoa DNA
    2. Publish in the public domain
    3. ???
    4. Profit!

    1. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by bagsc · · Score: 2, Insightful

      3. Have agricultural scientists develop healthier, tastier, easier to grow, cheaper cocoa plants, saving you money on you biggest input expense.

      --
      http://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
    2. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by Foofoobar · · Score: 4, Funny

      3. Have agricultural scientists crossbreed cocoa with cannabis for healthier, tastier and easier to bake brownies. (not to mention easier to bake humans)

      --
      This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
    3. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by lazyDog86 · · Score: 1

      I gotta think that healthier and tastier will be the first to fall by the wayside if a little bit more of easier to grow and cheaper are to be had. I mean I know this ain't a foodie website, but Mars seems to be pretty much about cheap, serviceable products. No offense to you M&M fans.

      --
      my insights may be modded Funny, but at least some of my jokes are modded Insightful
    4. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mmmm, "To Bake Man". *drool*

    5. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by jdb2 · · Score: 3, Funny
      I second that!


      But seriously it's actually thought, because of recent research, that chocolate is so pleasurable because it contains trace amounts of cannabinoids.

      I can see it now "In an ongoing series of police raids in an effort to stop the illegal use and sale of Cocoa, officials seized 100 pounds of Wonka chocolate bars that were in the possession of a previously cited Cocoa abusing teenager. As a dealer, he faces a possible life sentence if convicted."

      jdb2

    6. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by KevinKnSC · · Score: 2, Informative

      3. Exploit a quarter-million children to work your cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast.

    7. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by jdb2 · · Score: 1
      Forgot to post a link to the research.


      I can't remember the exact study, but googling the journals sure turns up a lot of stuff : http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=cocoa+OR+cacao+OR+chocolate+cannabinoid+OR+cannabinoids+OR+cannabis&hl=en&lr=&btnG=Search

      jdb2

    8. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      3. have agricultural sicentists crossbreed cocoa, sharks, venus flytraps and other goodies to make the first self-protecting, aggresive plant to be able to survive anything from infections to predators :)
      4. Profit
      5. Bow to your new plant overlord, the omnivorous thinking cocoa plant :)

    9. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by Max+Littlemore · · Score: 3, Funny

      Even better...

      3. Have agricultural scientists develop edible brussel sprouts.

      --
      I don't therefore I'm not.
    10. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by jeiler · · Score: 2, Funny

      Good plan, but needs a laser in there somewhere....

      --

      If you haven't been down-modded lately, you aren't trying.

      Sacred cows make the best hamburger.

    11. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by Max+Littlemore · · Score: 1

      The edible Brussel sprout was first developed in Belgium circa 1400

      Nice troll AC.

      --
      I don't therefore I'm not.
    12. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by Foofoobar · · Score: 1

      no... it says "to bake MANY"

      --
      This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
    13. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Doesn't dependence for chocolates start after 100 tablets a day? If you eat 10kg of chocolates a day, you have bigger problems than dependences to cannabinoids.

      Remember, the dose makes the poison.

    14. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Mars seems to be pretty much about cheap, serviceable products.

      I don't know. I've read good things about Mars lately. ;)

    15. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh man, a drug joke. That's hilarious!

    16. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by Dekortage · · Score: 1

      That's true for a lot of Mars candy, to be sure, but they also own Dove, which actually turns out some reasonably good chocolate from time to time.

      --
      $nice = $webHosting + $domainNames + $sslCerts
    17. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by Bovarchist · · Score: 1

      It's a cookbook! A COOKBOOK!

      --
      Hell is other people's code.
    18. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by Foofoobar · · Score: 1

      Better than the usual mormon jokes that we tell around here.

      --
      This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
    19. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by jdb2 · · Score: 1
      D'oh! Forgot to put in the oblig. line "with a street value of $150,000" and yes, the second paragraph was jocular ( apparently we have some immature newbies that can't objectively moderate or else my humor just sucks, which is a distinct possibility :)


      jdb2

    20. Re:Chocolate Gnome plan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      The correct spelling is Brussels Sprouts. They are named after the Belgian city.

  4. May I be the first to say--- by Gat0r30y · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sweet.
    sorry, I couldn't help myself. thats it i'm going home for the day.

    --
    Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
  5. Call me a pessimist by EdIII · · Score: 2, Funny

    I don't think IBM and Mars could work together and concentrate on anything less than "flavor".

    Don't get me wrong, I like the idea. I just don't think there is as much altruism in this project as is claimed.

    I know this is a stretch, but I would love to see this research lead to the first chocolate covered peanut tree. Or bush, I'm flexible.

    1. Re:Call me a pessimist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... I would love to see this research lead to the first chocolate covered peanut tree. Or bush, I'm flexible.

      Given the choice between a chocolate covered peanut tree and a chocolate covered bush, I know which one I'd rather eat! ;-)

  6. Cacao not cocoa by Alomex · · Score: 4, Informative


    You cannot decode the "chocolate genome" nor the "cocoa genome" any more than you can decode the flour genome. Chocolate, cocoa and flour are food stuffs, not plants. What IBM wants to do is decode the cacao genome.

    1. Re:Cacao not cocoa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As to the reason why they would do this, imagine being able to create a plant that can grow in a diffrent climate and resist pests and keep the same flavor. Gives them a lot more options one where to farm at.

    2. Re:Cacao not cocoa by Linuss · · Score: 1

      so my noodles don't have genes? :(

    3. Re:Cacao not cocoa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Your jeans should contain a noodle though.

    4. Re:Cacao not cocoa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      so my noodles don't have genes? :(

      Yes, they do - they're vegetables: they grow in trees, and are harvested in places like Switzerland

    5. Re:Cacao not cocoa by philspear · · Score: 4, Funny

      In unrelated news, scientists at IBM today isolated a new gene called the "anal retentive gene." It is highly related to the "grammar nazi" gene, and belongs to the "someone has way too much time on their hands" family of genes.

      Anyway, alomex, you should probably e-mail Mars and IBM right now. They're going to be wasting a lot of time and chocolate otherwise.

    6. Re:Cacao not cocoa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't worry that the rest of the world uses common names for things. And one of the common names for "Theobroma cacao" is "cocoa tree".

      You must really jate those morons who keep talking about the "human genome" when clearly they should be using the term homo sapiens. Well maybe you'd go as far as homo sapiens sapiens...

    7. Re:Cacao not cocoa by Alomex · · Score: 1

      Don't worry that the rest of the world uses common names for things.

      Let's see....

      Google query: cacao in english language pages
      Results: 4,830,000

      Google query: "cocoa tree"
      Results: 50,700

      Heck cacao tree alone, which is redundant as cacao *is* the tree and nothing else beats that:

      Google query: "cacao tree"
      Results: 65,700

      So no, cocoa is not the day to day term for cacao. In contrast human *is* the day to day term for homo sapiens, so I have no problem with IBM decoding the "human genome".

    8. Re:Cacao not cocoa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's one of the commonly used names. But feel free to trust google as the only authority on the English language.

      Amazingly people manage to cope with using multiple names for the one thing. Amazing!

    9. Re:Cacao not cocoa by dreamchaser · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Since you're going to be pedantic, the Wikipedia entry cleary states that the Cacao is also known as the Cocoa Plant.

      There, I see your dubious Internet refrence and raise you another dubious Internet reference. People know *exactly* what is meant by cocoa plant.

    10. Re:Cacao not cocoa by Alomex · · Score: 1

      It's one of the commonly used names. But feel free to trust google as the only authority on the English language.

      I actually looked it up in Webster's and the OED as well, but did not report it as common usage. However even the editors of the OED admit that Google is ahead of them in terms of *tracking* English usage.

      Amazingly people manage to cope with using multiple names for the one thing.

      Hint: Cocoa is a brown powder, cacao is a plant.

    11. Re:Cacao not cocoa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hint: this style of writing is arrogant and makes you look like the dick that you are.

    12. Re:Cacao not cocoa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nobody told you? Cacao is just a typo. It's cocoa.

    13. Re:Cacao not cocoa by nategoose · · Score: 1

      Drat!! And I just invested in a project to decode the McNugget genome. I think I've been had!!

    14. Re:Cacao not cocoa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People know *exactly* what is meant by cocoa plant.

      Did the headline say "sequence the cocoa plant genome"? No. It said "sequence the cocoa genome".

      Cocoa plant is an even rarer term than cacao btw.

    15. Re:Cacao not cocoa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What IBM wants to do is decode the cacao genome.

      What does bat poop have to do with any of this?

    16. Re:Cacao not cocoa by Dekortage · · Score: 1

      Actually the headline says "Sequence the Chocolate Genome" -- you cocoa/cacao purists must really have your shorts in a knot over that one.

      --
      $nice = $webHosting + $domainNames + $sslCerts
  7. Coffee plant next please by Gewalt · · Score: 2, Funny

    Caffeine and Chocolate are supposed to be very similar in chemical construction. I would really like to see a single plant that could make both. You know, like those chocolate covered coffee beans, only... actually tasty... Oh ya, and find some way to minimize the sugar and fat needed to make it slightly less bad for you.

    --
    Modding Trolls +1 inciteful since 1999
    1. Re:Coffee plant next please by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 4, Informative

      Chocolate contains caffeine you idiot.

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      Support my political activism on Patreon.
    2. Re:Coffee plant next please by Linuss · · Score: 1

      http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7367548.stm there ya go, now we don't need any sugar or fat anymore. yay capitalism!

    3. Re:Coffee plant next please by SRowley · · Score: 1

      ... and I want a flying car, and X-ray vision, and a pony!

    4. Re:Coffee plant next please by Gewalt · · Score: 0, Troll

      Thanks for being such an informative asshole.

      --
      Modding Trolls +1 inciteful since 1999
    5. Re:Coffee plant next please by Gewalt · · Score: 1

      OK, Nevermind then. Apparenly there is already a tiny amount of caffeine in chocolate. Approximately 1/10th an 8oz (tiny) cup of coffee's worth in an entire chocolate bar.

      Then in that case, I'd just want well.. MORE!

      --
      Modding Trolls +1 inciteful since 1999
    6. Re:Coffee plant next please by Gewalt · · Score: 1

      Here's your Pony!

      --
      Modding Trolls +1 inciteful since 1999
    7. Re:Coffee plant next please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mod parent up. I laughed!

    8. Re:Coffee plant next please by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 0

      You're welcome dumbass. It's like my grandpappy told me, if you're gonna be a jerk you better make sure the people round you get less stupid from it. Close as you can hope to making anyone smart.

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      Support my political activism on Patreon.
    9. Re:Coffee plant next please by Max+Littlemore · · Score: 1

      So hang on, let me get this straight. You're saying your gramps was a jerk and you're a smart arse?

      --
      I don't therefore I'm not.
    10. Re:Coffee plant next please by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Well, my gramps was a Democrat, but that's basically an amplification of 'jerk'.

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      Support my political activism on Patreon.
    11. Re:Coffee plant next please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would you call somebody an idiot for not knowing that?

      Who the fuck cares enough?

    12. Re:Coffee plant next please by CastrTroy · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well, if you want a bar without too much sugar and fat, there's always the Lindt 99% cocoa bar. Personally, I prefer the 70% bar better myself. Dark chocolate is a lot better for you because it contains a lot less sugar, and you feel satisfied after eating just a small amount. Remember to savour, not just swallow the pieces whole.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    13. Re:Coffee plant next please by nog_lorp · · Score: 1

      And it is effing delicious compared to milk chocolate.

    14. Re:Coffee plant next please by ErkDemon · · Score: 1
      Actually, I own four chocolate trees and a coffee bush.

      I really do.

      www.chocolatetreebooks.com/treepics.html

      --
      Eric Baird
    15. Re:Coffee plant next please by zippthorne · · Score: 1

      Coffee doesn't have beans, it has pits.

      --
      Can you be Even More Awesome?!
    16. Re:Coffee plant next please by Gewalt · · Score: 1

      Those are not mutually exclusive definitions.

      --
      Modding Trolls +1 inciteful since 1999
    17. Re:Coffee plant next please by eli+pabst · · Score: 1

      Actually I believe he was referring to theobromine which is the primary alkaloid in chocolate and gives it its distinctive bitter taste. You'll often see its structure on T-shirts that are captioned as "Chocolate". It has a similar chemical structure to that of caffeine. Caffeine is only found in relatively small amounts in chocolate (about 1/10 that of theobromine in most of the literature).

    18. Re:Coffee plant next please by eli+pabst · · Score: 1

      Good example are the t-shirts from thinkgeek

      You'll notice the caffeine shirts are different.

  8. Martian overlords welcome here by davidwr · · Score: 1

    With two Mars articles, someone had to say it.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  9. More farming options by davidwr · · Score: 2, Funny

    imagine being able to create a plant that can grow in a diffrent climate Like maybe here?
    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
    1. Re:More farming options by jeiler · · Score: 2, Funny

      Mars owns Mars? I for one welcome our chocolate-producing overlords!

      --

      If you haven't been down-modded lately, you aren't trying.

      Sacred cows make the best hamburger.

  10. What will they discover? by Cathoderoytube · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I have a feeling they're going to discover something that they really wouldn't want to know. Like Chocolate is 99% the same genetically as poop.

    Next week: Genome tests for chocolate have been canceled. One representative was heard to say 'Well, I don't think anybody's interested in this. Let's talk about something else.. Uhh... Free candy bars for everybody!'

    --
    I have nothing compelling to say
    1. Re:What will they discover? by Max+Littlemore · · Score: 4, Funny

      I have a feeling they're going to discover something that they really wouldn't want to know. Like Chocolate is 99% the same genetically as poop

      Or even worse, they'll discover that if they remove the gene responsible for creating caffeine from cacao, they'll end up with carob. Personally, I'm hoping for the poop scenario.

      --
      I don't therefore I'm not.
    2. Re:What will they discover? by nog_lorp · · Score: 1

      What? I thought that's what carob was...

  11. Ahhhhh!!! by lazyDog86 · · Score: 1

    Someone please mod this down before the Martian Overlords take note and begin blocking /.

    You don't think the Chinese are the only ones that can do that, do you?
    --
    my insights may be modded Funny, but at least some of my jokes are modded Insightful
  12. Quick! Somebody get Tay Zonday! by jejones · · Score: 1

    There's got to be a good song in this.

  13. Off-topic, but hopefully helpful by jeiler · · Score: 1

    "cannabinoid OR cannabinoids" is redundant in a Google search string--Google understands regular English plurals.

    --

    If you haven't been down-modded lately, you aren't trying.

    Sacred cows make the best hamburger.

  14. What if they discover that by Haoie · · Score: 1

    Cocoa and carob are the same thing? Gasp.

    --
    If each mistake being made is a new one, then progress is being made.
  15. Global planet science at Mars by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    According to Howard-Yana Shapiro, global director of plant science at Mars . . .

    Oh, plant science.
  16. trying to piece together what happened by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not saying this is fact but... maybe one of the many little companies IBM bought turned out to have a subsidiary that owned Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory, the one that was on the hook to pay off each of 5 kids with free chocolate for the rest of their lives.

    So the suits back at Armonk would be desperately casting around for a cheaper supply chain, and maybe the usual MBA spreadsheet stuff wasn't getting them where they needed to be...

  17. Is this slasdhot-worthy? by Provocateur · · Score: 0, Redundant

    This isn't about Mars, http://www.mars.com/global/Global+Brands/Snackfood/Mars.htm , is it?

    --
    WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
  18. Maybe the flavor by Frantactical+Fruke · · Score: 2, Interesting

    See, that's we went from delicious but tiny wild strawberries and tomatoes to big red water bags traded under the same name: taste always comes last in the industry's priorities. Perhaps someone could clue in the cocoa producers that chocoholics can be just as discerning about taste as wine aficionados ...okay, most of us are barely more discerning than your average back alley wino...

  19. Call me a realist by FurtiveGlancer · · Score: 1

    Actually, they'll have to map the whole thing to hopefully locate the flavor genes. Others will benefit from the data shared in PIPRA (love the acronym).

    As to the organically grown chocolate covered peanut, since they grow underground, how would one know that the dirt had been adequately washed off?

    --
    Invenio via vel creo
  20. wo! by BigBlueOx · · Score: 3, Interesting

    M&M Mars?? GIVING away research?? "The CIA of the candy industry"?? The company that won't even give plant tours to schoolchildren for fear of exposing trade secrets?? The candy company with NDAs?? The company that won't even reply to schoolchildren's letters with *promotional* *literature*??

    Ok. What's *really* going on?

    oops KIR - KOS lol cya