
A Gene Could Be Key to Growing Rice and Feeding Billions
Saul Zimet
created: June 5, 2025, 6:51 p.m. | updated: June 11, 2025, 3:44 p.m.
“A team of scientists in China recently announced that they had identified a gene that, when overheated, appears to have a negative impact on crops, lowering yield and producing chalky-looking, pasty-tasting grains.
But when that gene is deactivated — through gene editing or through breeding that capitalizes on a naturally occurring variant that doesn’t react to higher temperatures — rice plants produce more and better grains, according to a peer-reviewed paper published last month in the journal Cell.”From Washington Post.
1 month, 2 weeks ago: HumanProgress