We announced our intention to map the cocoa genome in 2008 and were very excited to finish the project almost 3 years ahead of schedule. We received many positive reactions, and hundreds of researchers have now downloaded our open-sourced genome dataset from www.cacaogenomedb.org. The genome is now public property, and we have registered it so that no part of the sequence
Cocoa genetic resources are kind of taken for granted in the cocoa world. Genetic resources include the wild, uncultivated, and uncollected varieties of cocoa still growing in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins, the original home of cocoa as well as the large collections of cocoa varieties which have been collected and are maintained in Trinidad (ICG,T) and Costa Rica (CATIE). These relatively uncharacterised
Mars has partnered with IBM and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on the sequencing of the cocoa genome and as a result IBM featured our strong partnership during their 100 year anniversary celebration.
On Thursday, June 16th IBM released a short film directed by an Academy Award winning director Davis Guggenheim called “Wild Ducks.” Following the theme of making the world a better
Back in 2008, Mars announced plans to “unlock” the cacao genome to better understand the plant, improve its quality, and bolster its production. Mars and its partners – USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and IBM – said it wouldn’t be done until 2012. Well, three years early, help is on the way for 6.5 million cocoa farmers and the 40-50 million people who rely
