Scientists say newly published guidelines will spur research into crops that have increased yields and greater resilience to climate change. Researchers in China are excited by their government’s approval of gene-edited crops, which they say clears the way for the plants’ use in agriculture and should boost research into varieties that are tastier, pest-resistant and better adapted to a warming world. Since China’s agriculture ministry released preliminary guidelines on 24 January, researchers have been hurrying to submit applications for the use of their gene-edited crops. These include the development of wheat varieties resistant to a fungal disease called powdery mildew, which are described in a paper in Nature this week
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