Monday, July 11, 2011
Secrets of the humble potato are unlocked .
Oh, I do enjoy my food and I do love the humble potato, baked, fried, mashed or roasted. Now an international consortium of research organisations has sequenced the 840 million DNA "base pairs" that make up the 12 chromosomes of the potato genome. It takes 10 to 12 years to breed a new variety of potato, but knowing the genome could cut the time by half and improve the end product by targeting the individual genes responsible for the desired traits, the scientists said.
So, that should help people the world over as our demand for food grows as the global population expands to nine billion in the next 40 years.
Oh, I do enjoy my food and I do love the humble potato, baked, fried, mashed or roasted. Now an international consortium of research organisations has sequenced the 840 million DNA "base pairs" that make up the 12 chromosomes of the potato genome. It takes 10 to 12 years to breed a new variety of potato, but knowing the genome could cut the time by half and improve the end product by targeting the individual genes responsible for the desired traits, the scientists said.
So, that should help people the world over as our demand for food grows as the global population expands to nine billion in the next 40 years.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]