Cacao plants may go extinct by 2050 due to a confluence of demand, disease, and climate change, Business Insider reports, but farmers and some chocolate companies are exploring using genetically engineered cacao to continue to meet demand.
According to Business Insider, the farmers' group A Fresh Look just released a line of chocolate bars, called Ethos Bars, aimed at getting people to reconsider the use of genetically modified organisms. While it notes those bars don't contain modified cacao, they do include sugar from modified beets. But by eventually modifying cacao, Business Insider says plants that are drought and disease resistant could be developed.
It notes that while some chocolate companies have pledged to be GMO-free, Mars is working with researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, to use CRISPR to make cacao that's resistant to rot and wilt.