A genome of wheat is identified that has the capability to overcome the negative impacts of the climate change. To be precise, the researchers have identified the locations of 100,000 genes of wheat. As a result of the research, the heat waves and elevating impacts of the environment on the crops can be seamlessly overcome.

An international team of scientists has identified the location of more than 100,000 wheat genes. The researchers say the map will accelerate the development of new strains to cope with the increased heat waves expected from climate change. The research has been published in the journal Science. Professor Cristobal Uauy, who is a project leader in crop genetics at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, described the pinpointing of wheat genes as “a game changer”. “We need to find ways to make sustainable production of wheat in the face of climate change and increasing demand,” he told BBC News. “This is something we’ve been waiting for for many years. The whole of human civilisation should be very excited with this because for the first time now we’ll be able to make the advances that scientists and plant breeders have wanted to do in wheat in a much more targeted manner and so feed the world in the future.” The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) estimates that wheat production needs to be increased by 60% by 2050 to feed the population, which by then will have grown to 9.6 billion. Much of this work is being carried out by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), based near Mexico City. It is an organisation devoted to developing new varieties to boost production for farmers in some of the world’s poorest countries. For decades CIMMYT has been trying to increase yields and stave off new strains of diseases by releasing new varieties created by traditional cross breeding. But the expected increase in heat waves caused by climate change has now made the development of varieties that need less water and tolerate higher temperatures their top priority, according to CIMMYT’s head of wheat research, Dr Ravi Singh. “During the critical few months of the growing period if you have a one degree rise in night temperature you lose 8% of the yield, so climate resilience is one of the major factors in our breeding programmes,” he said. Scientists develop thousands of new varieties of wheat each year using traditional cross breeding, where traits are selected for by eye. The process works well but it is painstaking and expensive. It is also a numbers game because each time varieties are crossed it is a lottery as to whether the resulting crop has the correct combination of the desired genes from the parent strains. It can take between 10 and 15 years to develop a new variety and have it in a farmer’s field. Researchers have now identified more than 100,000 genes and their position in the DNA of wheat. They have in effect produced a map which shows and labels all the most important places on the wheat genome. By knowing where all the genes are, researchers will now be able to discover how they work together to control traits such as drought resistance, increased nutritional value and higher yield. And by using gene editing techniques they can add the traits they need more quickly and precisely. BBC