IBM Teams with Mars; Targets Cocoa Genome

IBM is partnering with the US Department of Agriculture & Mars Inc., the company making all those M&Ms for you to eat, to sequence and map the cocoa genome. Scientists believe that the research could improve the quality of cocoa plants, resulting in higher yields and better resistance to bugs and disease. You may ask, “Why cocoa?”

IBM said cocoa has been somewhat neglected when it comes to agricultural research compared to major crops such as corn, wheat, and rice. But it notes that the crop is economically important, and not just to Africa. For every dollar's worth of cocoa imported to the U.S., one to two dollars of American agricultural products are used in turning it into chocolate, according to IBM.

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