In early trials, the resulting crop seemed bigger and stronger than the current modern wheat varieties.
So far, researchers have developed about 60 experimental wheat varieties with multiple low-resistance genes.
Only a handful of wheat varieties have any resistance to Ug99, implying that harvests could fail even more completely than during earlier epidemics.
He is credited with saving perhaps a billion people in third world countries from starvation with his development of high-yield disease-resistant wheat varieties.
They include some of our most popular fruits and vegetables, such as Ruby Red grapefruit and most of the durum wheat varieties used to make pasta.
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For example, although wheat varieties grown now vary widely in their traits and genetics, all are derived from a common precursor first domesticated in Turkey around 9000 B.
The scientists used cross-pollination and seed embryo transfer technology to transfer some of the resilience of the ancient ancestor of wheat into modern British varieties.
After the second world war, dwarf varieties of wheat and rice (which overcame the problem that heavily fertilised crops in hot countries grew too tall and fell over) boosted developing-country output.
So, for example, primitive wheat breeders crafted durum (hard) wheat for pasta and softer varieties for cakes.
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Current varieties include durum wheat for pasta and so-called common wheat for bread.
The new CIMMYT facilities include a gene bank that holds the genetic diversity of 130, 000 wheat and 28, 000 maize varieties worldwide.
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For example, in order to maintain the highest level of genetic purity, distinct varieties of self-pollinated crops such as wheat, rice, soybeans and barley need to be separated by at least 60 feet.
Anti-GMO campaigners are clearly positioning themselves for another offensive against a new wave of GM crops and foods, with new pesticide tolerant grain varieties and a host of nutritionally enhanced grains, such as Golden Rice and drought resistant wheat, in their crosshairs.
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