A fungus is threatening the world’s food supply. Scientists just found a new defense

Scientists have uncovered a promising new way to protect some of the world's most important food crops from a destructive fungus that threatens global food security. By engineering the natural immune defenses of plants, researchers have developed an experimental approach that could eventually help wheat, rice, and barley resist fungal infections more effectively.

The international research team, led by scientists at the John Innes Centre in the United Kingdom, investigated a recently discovered group of plant immune receptors. They identified how these proteins recognize invading pathogens and demonstrated that they can be modified to detect multiple fungal threats. The findings could open the door to crops with stronger, more durable disease resistance.