“…In a scientific tour-de-force that has been hailed as the most significant breakthrough in wheat production since the cereal crop was cultivated by the first farmers more than 10,000 years ago …
… scientists have decoded the genome of the wheat plant.
As a result, new breeds of disease-resistant crops could be producing higher wheat yields in as little as five years’ time …
… raising the prospect of lower bread prices and greater food security in a more populated world.
And rather than guard their knowledge … the British scientists responsible for the research will today place a draft version of the genome online …
… making it available for free to wheat breeders around the world …
… who will be able to use it to speed up the creation of the new disease-resistant varieties that are urgently needed.
Most wheat breeders currently rely on traditional methods of mixing new crop varieties –
- techniques that have not changed substantially for hundreds of years…”
go to source/story>>>Genome breakthrough heralds new dawn for agriculture – Science, News – The Independent
