Sarah Teel

Bella Bergmark
Nick Ruiz
Christian Peterson

Problem:
We have chosen to pursue the problem of the lack of growth in the economy and the poverty in
places such as West Africa and Asia, that grow cacao plants used to create chocolate. The
cacao farmers in these areas are extremely poor and many have resorted to child labor in order
to bring in some extra money. In Africa it is hard to find work for most people so producing this
chocolate will provide many africans with jobs. Only 28% of Africans have a stable wage paying
job. 60% of Africas crop land is unused allowing for Cacao plants to be planted in many
different places. By 2020 Africa is on track to produce 8 million more jobs and that number could
be multiplied if this plan works. Mining, oil, and gas contribute significantly to Africa's GDP, but
these sectors employ less than 1 percent of the workforce. Our plan will provide Africa with
many more jobs and a growth in the GDP.

Previously Attempted Solutions:

Donations and fundraisers have attempted to improve the lives of the poor people in those
areas.

Current Limitations of Those Solutions:

These solutions are useful in the short term but you can only give and donate so much. With
so many other projects being donated to, it is highly unlikely that there will be enough donations
and fundraising to completely support countries like these. We need to fix the problem from the
inside rather than just pouring support in from the outside.

Our Proposed Solution:

The idea for our proposal is to obtain the gene that controls the flavors of other plants such as
Vanilla Planifolia, Mentha, and Saccharum Officinarum (sugar cane) and genetically modify the
seeds of the cacao plant in order to create a blended flavor with the traditional flavor of cacao
plants. We would insert the flavor causing gene into a vector. The vector would deliver the
flavor gene into the nucleus of the cacao seed cells. We would coat tungsten with the DNA
vectors and place those particles onto a teflon bullet. We would then load those bullets into a
gene gun and shoot the gun at the cells. The release would be so great that the particles
penetrate the plant cells. The cells would be plated on a selective antibiotic media so only the
cells crossed with other flavors will grow and then those cells will be transferred onto media that
is more suitable for plant growth. These would then grow into our prototype plants that produce
the desired flavor.
The intended result from this new type of chocolate is to create a new market around
genetically engineered chocolate, thus bringing money to these areas and providing more jobs.
The new product and the business that went along with it would allow for the farmers to keep
more of the profit from the plants that they pick because as of now the pickers only receive 3-6
% of the profit from the produce they pick. Another plus to using chocolate is that it naturally
releases dopamine and seratonin which make people feel happier.
Citations:
http://www.cocoainitiative.org/en/documents-manager/english/20-ici-fact-sheet-child-labour-incocoa/file
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/fairtrade-partner-zone/chocolate-cocoaproduction-risk
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/10-things-you-didnt-knowabout-africas-economy-8113876.html

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/science/gmfoods/
https://gmoanswers.com/ask/how-much-time-does-it-take-and-how-much-does-it-costsuccessfully-develop-hybrid-one-or-more
https://gmoanswers.com/ask/what-difference-cost-production-gmo-vs-non-gmo
http://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/hs92/1801/

Virtual Mentor and Credentials:

Dr. McCarthy
Ph.D. UC Berkeley
B.S. Ch.E. University of Florida