Monsanto Touts New Rice as 'Breakthrough’

April 5, 2000

Monsanto Company has announced "a major scientific breakthrough" with decoding the genetic makeup of rice that the company says will lead to more nutritious and higher yielding varieties. Monsanto will share data on the variety with researchers worldwide through the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project.

Sharing it with researchers worldwide, Monsanto says, "will enable the world’s scientific community to greatly accelerate the development of more nutritious and higher yielding rice." It also should lead to similar developments in other major commodities such as corn and wheat.

The rice genome sequence has been decoded to the level of a "working draft," Monsanto said. This is the first crop genome to be described in such technical detail and will provide a new level of understanding of almost all the genes in rice, but certain details have yet to be determined.

A new gene sequencing approach produced the data primarily in the laboratories of Leroy Hood at the University of Washington, Seattle, under contract for Monsanto.

The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, the lead agency for the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project, has said it will distribute a set of the Monsanto data to members of the IRGSP.

"This new body of information will provide countries and research institutions with the ability to accelerate development of improved types of rice," Monsanto said. "In the years ahead, rice with better nutritional value, greater yields and more adaptable to seasons, climates and soils will be developed, both through traditional methods of crop improvement (breeding) and biotechnology."

The research also may lead to new varieties that require fewer environmental resources, including land and water, and use natural resources more effectively, the company added.