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‘Goldmine’ collection of wheat from 100 years ago may help feed the world, scientists say (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 4 months ago by Espiritdescali to c/futurology

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[–] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

A UK-Chinese collaboration has sequenced the DNA of all the 827 kinds of wheat, assembled by Watkins, that have been nurtured at the John Innes Centre near Norwich for most of the past century.

In doing so, scientists have created a genetic goldmine by pinpointing previously unknown genes that are now being used to create hardy varieties with improved yields that could help feed Earth’s swelling population.

Nice! Increasing genetic diversity is almost always a good thing. Look what happened to the Gros Michel banana...