UMD Scientist Helps Harvest Wheat´s Giant Genetic Code
(WorldNews Environment)

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland, as part of the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium, has helped accomplish a feat once considered impossible, sequencing the full genome of wheat, the world`s most widely cultivated crop. Experts say that the long-awaited mapping of wheat`s vast genetic territory opens up opportunities for creating new and better strains of wheat by improving complex traits such as crop yield, grain quality, resistance to diseases or pests, tolerance to heat and drought, and even characteristics like protein content or types and amounts of allergy causing compounds. `The wheat genome gives us a complete picture that will be the key to unlocking...