Biotech Updates

Researchers Produce Quinoa Hybrids Thanks to Genome Sequencing

January 19, 2022

After helping to sequence the quinoa genome five years ago, researchers at the Brigham Young University (BYU) used this information and came up with quinoa hybrids that are more tolerant to abiotic stress.

The BYU research team was able to develop new hybrids of quinoa that were more heat tolerant, more salt tolerant, and were better at surviving in very dry conditions using the information they previously obtained from sequencing the plant's genome. Their overall objective was to improve the nutritional status of populations of the developing world. Thus, the BYU team along with several partner institutions focused on introducing the hybrid quinoas in Morocco where the hybrid quinoas were planted, and the grains were cooked into couscous eaten by the researchers with the local farmers.

Read the researchers' experience in developing the quinoa hybrids in BYU.


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