An international team of scientists has developed the entire set of genes or a “pan-genome” for crops like potatoes, tomatoes, and aubergines by sequencing the genomes of 22 Solanum species. This breakthrough could result in higher-yielding and more resilient crops. Global agricultural systems are extremely vulnerable to extreme environmental events like drought, flood, and disease since over 75% of the world’s food supply comes from just 12 extensively bred commodity crops, according to the Natural History Museum (NHM), which has supported the study.
