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bmullan t1_j3sf7wv wrote

Norman Borlaug would be happy & proud to know of another innovation to feed the planet.

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Creative_soja t1_j3sra3e wrote

Well. His contribution is somewhat overhyped, at least in South Asian context. Had it not been groundwater, pumps, and electricity, those high yield hybrids would not have been successful. So, it wasnt as much green revolution as it was water pump revolution, and to some extent fertilizer revolution.

I suspect the same with most of such high yield seed varieties. They are often fertilizer and water intensive in reality, if not in labs, which defeats the purpose of having such seeds if you have unpredictable water supply.

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RobfromHB t1_j3svyom wrote

Those are impactful aspects, but separate from hybridization. A variety with poor genetic potential grown in optimal conditions will still yield poorly.

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ConsciousLiterature t1_j3uzv14 wrote

It will only feed the planet if they make it available without patents or other intellectual property restrictions. Otherwise it will be just another variety poor people can’t afford.

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Ilix t1_j3tor09 wrote

It also means the crop will be more susceptible to diseases, like bananas and fungus.

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Tweenk t1_j3tuk30 wrote

This would only be the case if a single clone were to dominate rice production, but this is extremely unlikely for a seed crop. This paper is not really about making rice a purely clonal crop like bananas, it's about dramatically reducing the cost of obtaining high quality hybrid seed in large quantities.

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Ilix t1_j3ucz2n wrote

The title of the post is explicitly calling that exact thing out as the benefit.

Not only that, but there isn’t only one banana option in existence, there’s just one that all the commercial growers use.

Unless there’s something specifically about rice that would prevent everyone from ending up using the same cloned strain, there’s no reason to believe this would turn out any different.

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mem_somerville t1_j3tuark wrote

No it doesn't. This method could be used on new varieties all the time, as we have to do now anyway to stay ahead of pathogens.

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Ilix t1_j3uc5nb wrote

It is if you’re keeping them from season to season without breeding new hybrids, as specifically stated in the title of the thread.

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mem_somerville t1_j3ufscy wrote

That will work for a while. But nobody said in the title or anywhere else that it's the end of the line.

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ishortit t1_j3t4fmf wrote

This is actually so much bigger a deal than people realize. When you don’t clean the slate on GMOs season to season you have much longer runways to get the exact phenotype you want. Rice in 5 years could be nearly unrecognizable comparatively.

Love this

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OttoBaker t1_j3undqu wrote

Rice uptakes a lot of arsenic.

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cupcakeraynebowjones t1_j3tyqrs wrote

Oh My God, when will people realize relying on a crop that's all 100% genetically identical is a bad idea?

There is historical precedent for this.

If something goes wrong with your crop, if your crop is all clones, you lose all of it. And then when that happens, many, many, people starve to death.

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andyhfell OP t1_j3u4hxc wrote

This doesn't mean all the rice in the world would be one clone. It would be easier and cheaper to produce multiple high-yield/disease resistant hybrids and make them accessible to farmers. They would need different varieties for different regions and markets, anyway.

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mem_somerville t1_j3u9toc wrote

There is hysterical precedent for people making this claim, most of whom have never seen a farmer seed catalog.

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