Rice research

In an effort to
create more productive and
disease-resistant
strains
of rice, Chinese
researchers have
created a gene 'map'
that will eventually allow not only
comparisons
between different
strains of rice
but between other
major grains as
well. Scientists at
Shanghai's
Genetic Research
Center have
isolated and
catalogued the individual genes that
determine how
a rice plant behaves.
Scientists
believe that they can
isolate the
genes in rice and
other grains that
direct such things as
yield, need for
moisture, behaviour
in different
soils and resistance
to disease
(Asiaweek, Vol 23, No 17).