A gene could be key to growing rice, and feeding billions, in a hotter world
Rising global temperatures are threatening rice, a staple food that nourishes billions of people around the world. But researchers say they may have discovered a way to improve harvests and grain quality: by essentially silencing a temperature-sensitive gene found in some common rice varieties.
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.
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