Your morning coffee may be more than a half million years old

The Associated Press reports on a study co-led by Victor Albert that sequenced the genome of coffea arabica, the world’s most popular coffee species. The researchers, hoping to learn more about the plants to better protect them from pests and climate change, found that the species emerged around 600,000 years ago through natural crossbreeding of two other coffee species. “In other words, prior to any intervention from man,” Albert said.