Wheat scientists have been fighting a ceaseless battle against rusts, the most dreaded fungal diseases which can slash wheat yields by anywhere between 20 and 80 per cent, depending on the severity of the attack. They have, no doubt, won some significant victories but most of these have proved short-lived, with the rusts invariably finding ways to bounce back. Either the immunity bestowed to wheat varieties through breeding breaks down or the rusts themselves evolve to dodge the resistant genes. However, a way out now seems on the cards thanks to the researchers discovering sources of multiple resistance, which could
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