One of the most interesting things about Ug99, the fungus that is currently threatening the world's wheat supply, is how it managed to sneak up on us. For nearly four decades, the disease that the Puccinis graminis pathogen causes, known as stem rust, was little seen in the wild, and certainly no great peril to farmers. That's because of the heroic efforts of Dr. Norman Borlaug and his acolytes, who managed to imbue the world's wheat with genes capable of resisting P. graminis. So as early...
Published on February 24, 2010 09:15