It may be coming to a bakery near you: Bread made from wheat that has had its photosynthetic mechanism refashioned to help it flourish on a warmer planet.
It may be coming to a bakery near you: Bread made from wheat that has had its photosynthetic mechanism refashioned to help it flourish on a warmer planet.
Despite the fact a number of researchers — some funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation — are scrambling to create this new breed of wheat, it won’t be arriving any time soon. Increasing temperatures are already taking a toll on the world’s wheat fields. But a new heat-resistant wheat that will replace the types currently grown is a decade or more off in the future.
“The largest single global change that threatens food security is high temperature,” said Donald Ort, a professor of plant biology and crop sciences at the University of Illinois who is working on a project called RIPE — Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency — to enhance photosynthesis in food crops, which would also help beat the heat.
The problem is being seen throughout the world. In 2010 and 2012, for example, Russian wheat growers saw their yields decline dramatically because of a combination of hot weather and drought.
Read more at Yale Environment 360
Photo Credit: Voggacom via Pixabay
