Decoding The Secret Behind Succulent Treats
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Ever wondered why some strawberries are super sweet, while others not so much or why some chocolates taste creamier than others? It's all to do with the same thing that makes each human being different - the genes. Now, scientists believe they have unlocked the code that will take them one step closer to even more delicious versions of not only these two treats, but others as well.
The two separate studies conducted by a team from 38 organizations from all over the world, was led by scientists from France's CIRAD, an organization that tackles agricultural issues. Their mission is to not only create tastier produce, but also, one that is healthier and more resilient to disease.
For the chocolate study, the scientists selected Criollo - A cacao tree that was first cultivated by humans during the Mayan era, about 3,000 years ago. Amongst the 28,798 genes identified, were two that help protect the plant against disease. Also identified, were the genes that influence the amount of natural antioxidants, aroma, color and flavor.
In the case of strawberries, the scientists picked the wild Woodland Strawberry, which they uncovered has an astonishing 35,000 genes or about one and half times the number found in humans. Similar to the cacao tree, they were able to segregate the ones responsible for diseases, aroma, color and flavor.
The scientists are now hoping to use this information to cultivate plants that can resist diseases, which in turn will lead to better yields and more sustainable farming, especially in the case of the highly susceptible cacao tree.
Also, since the strawberry is part of the Rosaceae family of plants, which includes apples, peaches, pears, raspberries and roses, they are hoping to use similar techniques to boost the production of other fruits as well.
Genes are chemicals that determine the traits or characteristics that all living things inherit from their parents. In the case of humans they determine things like how a person looks, how tall he/she is, whether he/she has curly or straight hair etc. etc. Each of the between 20,000-25,000 genes, housed inside the nucleus of every human cell, carry their own blueprint or pre-determined function. It is the malfunction of these protein molecules that leads to all kinds of diseases in living creatures, which is the reason scientists study them so closely.
Sources: topnews.us, cbc.ca,kidshealth.org
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608 Comments
pianostarover 9 yearschocolate and strawberries are like my fave fruit ever!- Leroyover 9 yearsCrystalmori- The reason DOGO News has no offensive comments is because (unlike most sites) they have moderators who delete offensive comments and post the good ones...
crystalmoriover 9 yearsHooray for the awesome moderators then! And thank you for the explanation. :)
peanut630over 9 yearsHey,Crystal! I' already following you, and I'm wondering how you get so many followers. I think I only have 24, and I want more people to follow me.
wildpeepover 9 yearsyou just have to follow a lot of people and they might follow you because the more people ur following the more activitys you ave and more people will want to follow you
ikyra_marieover 9 yearsI'll Follow you! :)
gso44over 9 yearsI have 12 followers and I just started half a year a go
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsThere are people who have like 400 followers, so you might want to try asking some of them for more info. Like peacheslarue, frankiebaby (800+ ? Wow), swirlylollypops, and ikyra_marie.
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsWell, I haven't really been trying to get followers, so I don't know how much help I can be. But one thing is it doesn't happen overnight. I think I've been a member for about a year. *checks* Make that two.... However, I've only really been active since last summer. But usually people on Dogo are kind enough that if someone wants followers, as long as you ask politely and are willing to follow them back, they will usually be willing. Also, just be yourself, and try to be kind.
sp11over 9 yearsI have joined DOGO like 2 months ago.... I have like no followers......- wildpeepover 9 yearsim gonna follow you too
nikukyuover 9 yearsMe too, I think I started DOGO last summer... I remember looking at the avatars of my five followers and being so happy! *looks into distance* But, fast forwarding a year, and here I am, with 170+ followers! I used to comment stuff like, 'follow me and I'll follow you!' Nowadays I don't comment stuff like that, I usually reply at others comments-I just love a good discussion!
analiseover 9 yearsHa, i had Dogo 5 yrs ago and just found my account again :)
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsFor me though, I've just posted comments and stuff normally. If people like your personality and think what you have to say is worth knowing, they will definitely follow you!
bigmeloover 9 years*gasp* Advertising! :D- bigmeloover 9 yearsJust kidding - don't be afraid to engage in conversations with anyone. Be yourself, & the followers will come... :D
- bigmeloover 9 yearsSpeaking of that, I'll follow you, peanut630! :D
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsCan I call you Mello?
- nikukyuover 9 yearsYour nickname, big ell would be...marshmello! Yup, I still remember! I won't call you that often-just when I'm in the mood:D
- nikukyuover 9 yearsOhMyGod Crystal you HAVE to read this!!
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsThank you, nikukyu.
- nikukyuover 9 yearsOoh, I forget to say;sometimes I will call you as 'crystal' instead of your full nameXD Hope that's okay!
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsOf course it's fine, nikukyu! I meant t tell you, but it seems my comment last night didn't get posted.
aphpiriover 9 yearsIn that case, You can call me "Piri" instead of aphpiri.- nikukyuover 9 yearsThat is so cute!
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsPiri? ^.^ That's cute! Can I call you that, too?
- aphpiriover 9 yearsSure! Really anyone can, I don't mind.^^
felicisowlover 9 yearsI think I started when the Harry Potter boarding room article thing came out, and well, I don't have many followers, and I've been deleting some of them because I didn't want any at first.. Now I welcome followers, but I don't have that many. Well it's alright :) You can call me Owlie or Feli when you're not in the mood to call me by my full name :)- nikukyuover 9 yearsKay, Hoot! ( can I call you that? You know, owl....hoot...? Haha!)
- felicisowlover 9 yearsNice pun..? ^.^ and sure :)
hemmguinover 9 yearsWhat would happen to the world if we didn't have chocolate?
lakeover 9 yearsThose are at golden Coral 🍫🍓
kimberly56over 9 yearsi love golden coral
littlemissyover 9 yearsChocolate covered strawberrys omg I love that
blossomover 9 yearsYUMMY CHOCOLATE- kimberly56over 9 yearsyes LOL
- kimberly56over 9 yearsYES CHOCOLATE
- nikukyuover 9 yearsDOGOnews, DOGOnews, it's the place where kids can learn. DOGOnews, DOGOnews, it's just the right site for youuuuu *singing on the tune of Let it go. You know, the 'let It Goooo' part😝*
optimistic-editover 9 yearsCreative! Have you tried singing Let it Go in French? It's so fun
animefan3over 9 yearsYup it is
basi344over 9 yearsI love it!- aphpiriover 9 yearsWe all care what kids have to sayyy~! Let the fun live onnnnn! We're all commenting and we're here to stay.:D
- nikukyuover 9 yearsIt's funny how our lives changed, logged into this site, cuz we help each other through our troubles, that can't get to us no moreeeee! *the part after aphpiri's part*
- nikukyuover 9 yearsWow....I'm speechless!
- aphpiriover 9 yearsIt's time to see what we can do! Change the world, Internet, too!
- wildpeepover 9 yearsLOL
- kimberly56over 9 yearsLOL
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsThat was awesome, both of you!
shivi483over 9 yearsnikukyu I see all your friends are doing these stuff what are they? sounds awesome- shivi483over 9 yearsDogo news is actully awesome than what I expected to be honest
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsIt's way more awesome than I expected, too. I mean, I've liked Dognews since before it had iDOGO, and I didn't get iDOGO for a long time after it was added. I was kind of prejudice against any kind of, well, thing like that. Because, you know, you go on Facebook or youtube and there're usually a lot of mean comments. But Dogo's different, and somehow, I just didn't expect that. Now I know. Having an iDOGO account is way better than I had ever imagined it to be.
- crystalmoriover 9 yearslol, I sound like a TV ad person (kinda). But seriously, I wouldn't have known there were such nice people on here any other way. I'm so glad I found out and that I get to be part of such an awesome online community! :D
- nikukyuover 9 yearsI know right! I can't imagine my life before DOGO!
jhs190russel603over 9 yearshmmm...im not so sure about me- bigmeloover 9 yearsI know, right? I literally can't believe I've been alive before discovering Dogo News! :D
- jhs190russel603over 9 yearsim japanese are you? like this if you are
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsHmm. I might be part Japanese, but I live in America
- nikukyuover 9 yearsYOU ARE?!?! *deep breath* Do you live in Japan too? I do.
- animefan3over 9 yearsNikukyu take a deep breath😝
- nikukyuover 9 yearsCan I steady my hand on your shoulder? *deep breath* thanks, animefan!
- peanut630over 9 yearsHey, nikukyu, if you follow me I'll follow you!
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsNikukyu, would you mind helping me out with some Japanese grammar? If you are asking someone if they have returned home safely, and stating the name of the place, then do you use 'de' after the place name or 'ni'? And which one do you put after 'buji'?
- nikukyuover 9 yearswell, you could say it as 'buji ni ____kara kaettekiteyokatta' I'm glad that you returned safely from ___. You should use 'kara' instead of 'de' or 'ni'. I really hope I helped!
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsBut if you are asking them if they have returned safely, what then? "Buji ni America kara kaettekitara yokatta" ? But kite and kita are variations of kuru, which is more like 'to come', isn't it?
- nikukyuover 9 yearsYou don't have to say 'kaettekitara's 'kithara.' You can just say, 'business in America kara kaettekite yokatta.' Sorry if this was hard to read. The comment space was so small that I can't read what I'm typing!
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsI understand! And can totally relate.... This is happening to me a lot commenting on this article. One letter at a time....
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsI think I owe you an explanation....I met this really cool Japanese girl at church, and I have her email, but there are some things I don't know how to say... I want to ask if she got back to Japan safely from here.
- nikukyuover 9 yearsAww that's so sweet!
- gso44over 9 yearscool! how's japan like?
- nikukyuover 9 yearsMmm...Wow I don't know what to say. Just, you know, normal(though my 'normal' wouldn't be as same as yours!'
- wildpeepover 9 yearsdo you know popin cookin nikukyu
- nikukyuover 9 yearsuh.... What is that?
- wildpeepover 9 yearsit a japaneese DIY candy kit
- bigmeloover 9 yearsI believe it's a set of candies in which you specifically arrange to create differently-themed foods! :D
- nikukyuover 9 yearsSounds awesome!
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsWhat? How does that work?
- wildpeepover 9 yearsu just add water to the powder and mix and put it in the microwave and u decorate and there you have a cake
- felicisowlover 9 yearsIt's quite complicated, lol, but it's a bunch of packaged things, and you heat them and put it in this little oven and then put them on top of each other and make food. At least, from my experience.
wildchild999over 9 yearshey nikukyu! this really is amazing! i mean I'm not japanese at all. but now we can interact all over the world!
- aphpiriover 9 yearsI couldn't imagine having friends in Japan before DOGO!
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsHey, aphiri, are you really sure your account got deleted? 'aphphilippines' is still on my followers list, and when I click it to check on the profile, it's there, and it's up to date with all the things people you were following have been doing.
- bigmeloover 9 yearsI know, right? Even I have you on my list! :D
- hemmguinover 9 yearsI found it one day and it's been my connection to new information every day. I absolutely love knowing new things so I agree with you, I can't imagine my life without this website.
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsIn my case, when I was being homeschooled, my mom wanted me to have a news site as my home page. But I didn't like hearing the mainstream news, all about bloody stuff and murder and wars, so we had to find something that wasn't like that before I would agree. Luckily, DOGOnews was here, and I've been using this site ever since. I owe this site for a lot of stuff, including introducing me to Vocaloid, without which I would probably never have become an otaku, and that would be sad. :( The saddest thing is, I wouldn't even know what I was missing out on. ;.; Thank you, DOGO!
- crystalmoriover 9 yearsExcuse me while I cry....
- felicisowlover 9 yearsI used to be homeschooled too. I mean, I used to go to school in first grade, but I got bullied. We didn't really want to move, so I was homeschooled for a few years (My mom is a great teacher :thumbs up: My dad too.. And my brother!) I go to a public school now, but the situation isn't much better. There aren't as many bullies though, but I don't have much friends. But, hey, a girl can't be called lonely when she has the comfort of God :insert word if you are a different religion: and books. Which, I do :D
- wildpeepover 9 yearsLOL I do homeschool too im in 5th grade
- blossomover 9 yearsDogo news is so good I thought it was boring when I found out till my cousin told me it is awesome
- Raeover 9 yearsYum
- Raeover 9 yearsCool
