Scientists crack genome of superfood seaweed, ito-mozuku
Thursday, March 14, 2019 - 08:20
in Earth & Climate
Along the tropical coastline of Okinawa, Japan, farmers raise rows of delectable seaweed and harvest thousands of tons of the crop each year. Unfortunately, scientists predict that pollution and rising ocean temperatures will blunt this impressive yield, forcing farmers to adopt new cultivation techniques. Recently, scientists at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) decoded the genome of the popular brown seaweed ito-mozuku (Nemacystus decipiens), providing data that could someday be critical to local farmers.