Freshly grown decaf
A report published in the latest issue of Nature suggests
that, thanks to the tinkering of genes, decaffeinated coffee could
be grown on bushes.
that, thanks to the tinkering of genes, decaffeinated coffee could
be grown on bushes.
As the debate hots up over genetically modified foodstuffs, a report published in the latest issue of Nature suggests that, thanks to the tinkering of genes, decaffeinated coffee could be grown on bushes.
Researchers at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology in Japan have used a technique called RNA interference to reduce the activity of key caffeine-making genes in coffee plants.
Their investigations produced a reduction in caffeine content by up to a massive 70 per cent.
As the popularity of decaffeinated coffee increases, the Japanese findings could hail substantial savings for manufacturers that currently use expensive industrial processes to reduce caffeine content.
