In an effort to create more productive and disease-resistant strainsof rice, Chinese researchers havecreated a gene 'map' that will eventually allow not only comparisonsbetween different strains of ricebut between other major grains aswell. Scientists at Shanghai'sGenetic Research Center haveisolated and catalogued the individual genes that determine howa rice plant behaves. Scientistsbelieve that they can isolate thegenes in rice and other grains thatdirect such things as yield, need formoisture, behaviour in differentsoils and resistance to disease(Asiaweek, Vol 23, No 17).