Mission
King Laboratories is dedicated to providing innovating game-changing agriculture solutions through genomic editing.
Rational
The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that by 2050, there will be a need for an increase of 70 percent in crop production to sustain the global population growth rate. There is an incredible demand to increase the world’s yield in these short few years. There is also the constant demand to increase the quality, safety of food, and to decrease the price of goods.
Solution
Genomic editing allows the addition, enhancement, or removal of desirable traits. Genomic editing has been used for increasing yield and nutrition, faster growth and maturation, and resistance to disease, pests, and unfavorable environments.
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Plan
Our beginning aims to enhance Coffea, the plant behind coffee. Coffee is one of the most consumed drinks worldwide, with more than 2.25 billion cups consumed each day. Decaffeinated coffee accounts for a large share of the consumption, as approximately 10% of the coffee market is decaffeinated coffee. King Laboratories aims to genetically modify Coffea to produce decaffeinated and hyper-caffeinated varieties.
Why
There are many issues with the current chemical decaffeination methods. As one roaster and affectionado pointed out here, flavor and aroma are lost in the processing, in which many methods further expose the beans and the consumer to dangerous chemicals. Ultimately, the process does not produce caffeine-free coffee, instead, it reduces caffeine, which can still be detected by sensitive individuals. A study conducted by the University of Florida found that more than 8% of caffeine can be detected in decaffeinated coffee. Individuals can also be surprised by the cumulative effect of drinking multiple cups of decaffeinated coffee, as the caffeine can build through each cup. Lastly, there are increased costs and greenhouse emissions from processing as well as the shipments to and from the processing centers. By engineering decaffeinated varieties, decaffeinated coffee can have the full richness of regular coffee without potential exposure to chemicals or have unknown levels of caffeine.
There are many benefits of producing hyper-caffeinated coffee in addition to caffeine-free. Too often, whether on the run, on the road, or busy at work, the caffeine in coffee can be too weak for regular drinkers, which requires work to be stopped to either brew or purchase more. Some individuals turn to robusta beans, which have more caffeine than arabica, despite the decrease in taste. Hyper-caffeinated coffee can combat this by offering higher amounts of caffeine. Furthermore, increased caffeine means fewer beans will need to be brewed for stimulation, which can lower bean consumption, and can ultimately lower the price per cup of coffee. By increasing caffeine synthesis, drinkers will not have to resort to robusta and can instead drink the sweeter arabica. For those wishing to drink coffee to increase stimulation and productivity at a cheaper price, hyper-caffeinated coffee will be the clear winner over traditional coffee