With the intention of flooding 70% of the global cocoa supply with genetically modified (GMO) cocoa tree hybrids, a collaboration involving Mars, USDA and IBM is accelerating this process. 
With primary funding from US chocolate producer Mars, the partnership includes scientists based at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the US Department of Agriculture and Science as well as researchers working at IBM’s Thomas J Watson Research Center.
The scientists are determined to finalize gene sequencing of the cocoa genome which they say will “benefit” the chocolate industry and cocoa growers in West Africa where 70 percent of the world’s cocoa is produced, and in other tropical zones.
According to the global head of plant science and research at the confectionery firm, Howard-Yana Shapiro, the sequence is of great importance.
“As plant breeders, we’re always looking after the golden traits: pest and disease resistant, drought tolerance, the ability to adapt to climate change, tree architecture, yield quality, etc,” said Dr Shapiro.
The researchers including ARS based molecular biologist David Kuhn and geneticist Raymond Schnell said that they released the findings of sequencing into the public domain in order to assist scientists to begin applying the findings immediately.
The results have been published on the Cacao Genome Database website.
The researchers state that it also means that cocoa will no longer be the ‘orphan crop’ compared to corn wheat and rice in terms of focused breeding research.
Consumption
Although cocoa is largely produced in developing countries, it is mostly consumed in industrialized countries. For cocoa, the buyers in the consuming countries are the processors and the chocolate manufacturers. A few multinational companies dominate both processing and chocolate manufacturing.
The United States, Germany and France make up more than half of the world’s cocoa consumption with the United States by far the largest consumer. Consequently, should the effects of genetically modified cocoa result in unintended health effects or consequences to consumers, the US population will be the first to exhibit those effects on a mass scale.
Source: https://preventdisease.com/news/10/092010_GMO_chocolate.shtml
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Wow. This is just not good news. Is nothing sacred? I guess this should not surprise me as pizza was just labeled a vegetable. What can we do to stop this?
I ask the same question: What can we do to stop this? Are there any petition to sign against GMO in cocao and any other food?
I just posed the following question on the Cacao Genome Project website ( https://www.cacaogenomedb.org/ ):
“Hi: How. or is, gene sequencing different than creating a genetically modified organism?
Thanks, Ken
You’ll do nothing to stop it. Eat your GMO foods and shut up.
It’s a new world order. pay to live, eat, and breath.
Easy enough if everyone would boycott the major chocolate producers and ONLY buy fair trade organic chocolate, which will not be GMO. Another reason is the major chocolate plantations in Africa use child labor, some of it slave labor, to produce their chocolate and Mars et al turn a blind eye.
Enough… don’t be effing with my chocolate… they haven’t eff’d up our food enough yet?
Do you know how many technically non-GMO crops are improved? The growers (or seed companies) mutate with chemicals or radiation, and then select for traits that they want- basically, accelerated natural evolution (rounds of mutation + selection). GMO means putting in defined genes (like a pesticide resistance gene). Is a plant with millions of random mutations that much better for you than a GM one? I don’t think its that obvious.
An article in Dec 11 Scientific American asks “What if material from our food actually made its way into the innermost control centers of our cells, taking charge of fundamental gene expression?” The discussed research shows microRNA from commonly eaten plants does make its way through our blood, interacting with receptors. “The revelation that plant microRNAs play a role in controlling human physiology highlights the fact that our bodies are highly integrated ecosystems.” This finding also speaks to “our understanding of co-evolution, a process in which genetic changes in one species trigger changes in another.”
It’s not at all “obvious” how specific inter-species genetic code will effect person or ecosystem. The issue isn’t about what is obvious. What were talking about is a massively perverse and horribly complex mess the GM industry is unleashing upon the world AND our personal chemistries.
Get yourself informed. There is lots you can do. Knowledge is power.
https://www.responsibletechnology.org/take-action/join-the-campaign
https://organicconsumers.org/monsanto/index.cfm
@Ken - How is sequencing the genome different from creating a GM version? Sequencing the genome is about understanding what the components of the genome are. It’s a long ways from there to actually using that information to create a plant that has the desired characteristics and that is viable in a farm.
HY Shapiro’s quote is being misinterpreted. The intent of the research is not to create GMO crops, but, instead, to accelerate traditional breeding and hybridization programs, thereby reducing the time required to know that a desired characteristic “breeds true” from 5-10 years to less than one.
Another thing that is alarmist/fear mongering about the headline is the total lack of understanding that to replace 70% of the world’s cocoa trees with GM varieties would take hundreds of millions if not billions of trees and is a process that would take many, many, decades just in West Africa, let alone the rest of the world … and would cost tens of billions of dollars if not more. The entire chocolate industry has trouble combating child labor in West Africa and trouble coming up with a few millions and an effective program.
Replanting 70% of the world’s cacao trees is not in the cards because it’s simply too expensive at every level of the supply chain.
thanks Clay for saying this. you took the words out of my mouth. and in addition. I do not like transgenic (gmo) plants) But sequencing the genome can also help with Marker assisted Breeding, which uses the technology to help speed up traditional breeding. Most of us in the non-gmo movement applaud this technology, as long as nothing is inserted into the genome. On the other hand if monsanto wins fully on the sugar beet case, the sugar in your chocolate will be gmo for sure! Definitely a more pressing concern!
The reason I believe people are so fearful about genetically altering
foods and living things is the problems and sickness already experienced.
I KNOW, firsthand that my girlfriend is sick (they call it fibromyalgia) from
cotton that has been spliced with micro-bacteria to fend off an insect. Yes, it seemed like a great idea, but the cotton is actually alive now and affects her skin and respiratory system. We noticed these “living” fibers ourselves with our microscope back in 2002, and everything we saw and how her body reacts to this bacterial-cotton is irreversible. Plus the issue of patenting life feels so wrong. Especially when their new life strain is taking over biologically. Even farmers that don’t want their (monsantos) strain, are helpless to keep their crops pure because of natural pollination, seeds drifting, etc. from gm crops. Then monsanto, since they’ve patented their “life” form can expect $ from anyone growing what they’ve patented. Its genius really, like someone patenting a new genetically spliced in haircolor. Anyone born with that gene has to pay. Sick
This is not your chocolate.
Your chocolate is the stuff the you yourself grow.
So make it happen locally, you and you neighbors working together,
to create what you want.
Take some responsibility for your own creativity and consumption.
Please!
One more HUGE reason to buy only fair trade, certified organic chocolate. Stop buying everything else.
This has got to be stopped. Disease is rampant in this country. This great country is the world leader in most all of the big diseases. With the hundreds of billions of dollars being pumped in to health care system, why do we lead the world in cancer, heart disease, diabetes and so on. It’s crazy. We no longer have health care but rather disease management. Now, I am not for a minute suggesting this is the cause of all of our problems, but this is just one (of many) adding to the problem. Animals when given the choice always stay clear of GMO feed. There are many many documented cases in people with severe health problems related to GMO food. There are whole web sites and books written on health problems associated with GMO food. Much of the population know nothing about this topic and yet it’s pushed upon
us without to much of a choice. Worst case, we already know there are documented health problems and even deaths associated with this and we are still realitivly early in this process, we still don’t know how much long term effects we’ll see. What we see now is bad enough. Best case, there are still way to many questions about GMO’s to be forcing it on the population.
We have to eat to supply our bodies with the nutrition to keep our bodies functioning in a way that helps keeps us healthy, when we put garbage in, we create an enviornment for disease, when we make healthy lifestyle choices we create an enviorment for health. There are already so many problems with our diet, do we really need another? When will we stop putting the dollar ahead of this countries health?
It might make good financial sense to do this but does it make good health sense? Talk to those who have already had thier lives ruined. At least research it for yourself.