M. Marzot / FAO

Researchers in Brazil have identified the 35,000 genes in the DNA of coffee, one of the country's biggest exports. Brazil's agriculture minister says the research will lead to production of crops that can resist disease and frost, and better tasting coffee.

The minister said improvements to coffee would not involve genetic modification. Instead, breeding experiments would be used to transfer pollen between plants whose genetic makeup was known.

The research took two years to complete, and its findings will not be made available to researchers in other countries for at least two more.

Link to full BBC Online news story.