Over the years, we've touted the benefits of chocolate-based health care: whether you're pregnant, overweight, or just suffering from high blood pressure, chocolate seems to be the "go to" dietary hero (well, maybe next to tomatoes). It's not enough, apparently, for scientists merely to acknowledge cocoa's seminal role in the health care arena; now they want to map the delicious pod's genome:
It seems that there are a host of challenges that affect cocoa crops, from fungi to droughts, and researchers believe that they can learn more (and better) techniques for protecting the world cocoa bean supply by more completely understanding what makes it "tick."
It's actually a pretty interesting venture, with leading edge genetic research which promises to have positive, real-world impact.