Meet the genes in the beans of your coffee By Geoffrey Mohan LA Times September 4, 2014 Wake up and smell the genome. Researchers have pieced together the genetic atlas of the parent of the most commonly cultivated species of coffee plant and uncovered a rather independent streak in its evolution. Coffee developed its caffeine-generating capacity independently from its cousin, cacao, according to the first whole genome study of the plant behind the brew quaffed every morning by about 100 million Americans, published online Thursday in the journal Science. There’s been a lot of genetic sleuthing on coffee, most of it far from the tree. We have a good idea about how caffeine affects animal (particularly human) genes and alters brain chemistry. We know which of our own genes seem to draw us toward consuming coffee, tea or chocolate as well. And there’s also been a heady, if somewhat contradictory, brew of studies purporting to demonstrate caffeine’s benefic...