Mars Inc. to decode cocoa tree genome

[Gilded]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7474278.stm

 

Interesting PR move for sure. I wonder what sort of ramifications this will have.

 

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that Ecoterrorists Burned Down" ?

[arnoldschwartz]

I think scientiscts should be using thier knowledge for better uses, such as human genetics, instead of choclate genetics lol

[ecoli]

I think scientiscts should be using thier knowledge for better uses, such as human genetics, instead of choclate genetics lol

How is that not a good use... espeically if it improves production. Cocoa is a major and important crop.

[arnoldschwartz]

How is that not a good use... espeically if it improves production. Cocoa is a major and important crop.

 

Name some important uses

[Mr Skeptic]

It provides a source of income for the people who grow and harvest it. It provides a source of pleasure for the people who consume it.

[ecoli]

It's not just a source of income. It's a billion dollar agricultural industry.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoa#World_production

 

What... do you think that just because something is a luxury item, its not important? I guess you can say the same about cars, clothing, Mcdonalds... just about everything that isn't completely necessary. I can't even believe this is an issue for you.

[arnoldschwartz]

It's not just a source of income. It's a billion dollar agricultural industry.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoa#World_production

 

What... do you think that just because something is a luxury item, its not important? I guess you can say the same about cars, clothing, Mcdonalds... just about everything that isn't completely necessary. I can't even believe this is an issue for you.

 

Its not an issue, but i believe that more good can be done if top scientisicits are used to understand diesease processes, rather than helping a billion dollar industry make another billion dollars

[Mr Skeptic]

Its not an issue, but i believe that more good can be done if top scientisicits are used to understand diesease processes, rather than helping a billion dollar industry make another billion dollars

 

It's almost certain that a good portion of these scientists are trying to understand disease processes. After all, disease causes significant crop losses. Or did you mean human disease?

 

Also, look at it from another perspective. Stress is known to be incredibly harmful, causing and contributing to all kinds of long-term, persistent, and occasionally fatal problems. Such as heart attacks. This is why laughter is the best medicine. It is likely that people who enjoy a good chunk of chocolate will have less stress, and so less sickness. So perhaps these people really are contributing to human health, as well as to happiness, and to billion dollar industries.

[ecoli]

Not to mention that if Mars can make more money off this, that's more money they can donate directly to other types of important research.

 

Plus, there is such a thing as pure research.

 

What diseases are theoretical physicists curing? Some things are just important to know for their own sake. If we can apply it to something good, even better.

[iNow]

It's also important to note how many incredibly enriching things we've learned both culturally and medically just by accident. When someone asks what is the purpose of research, it's like looking at an infant and asking what is the purpose of that child. It's short-sighted, silly, and ignores the beauty of following one's passion in pursuit of something they personally find interesting.

 

 

We don't necessarily know where the path will take us, but that doesn't mean the path is not important, nor that we can adequately answer your question about why that particular path is important.