Modern tomatoes have weaker flavor than older heirloom varieties, and consumers often complain about their "tastelessness". But, how did these tasteless tomatoes arise? - one cause is breeding. Tomatoes have been continuously bred to improve their agricultural features. While these features mostly include firmness for... click to read more

Durum wheat is one of the most important food crops for human consumption in the world, and it is used mainly for pasta production. The origin of this crop dates back to the Neolithic, about 10,000 years ago, in the Fertile Crescent, the cradle of... click to read more

Cassava is a staple food crop in sub-Saharan Africa, where millions of people eat it every day. It's an especially important source of food during times of drought, because cassava is a hardy plant that continues to produce its starchy storage roots when water is scarce... click to read more

It has been estimated that coffee farming provides livelihoods for around 100 million people worldwide, most of which are smallholder farmers. For many coffee producing countries, coffee exports make up a significant and critically important proportion of their export earnings. Despite the number of producers... click to read more

We often think of genes as a static piece of information in DNA that determines different physical aspects of life. I have blue eyes because I have the gene(s) for blue eyes. However, while DNA is important in determining such features, it's the proteins encoded... click to read more