Gene-edited rice may be able to grow on Mars

Gene-edited rice vegetation could possibly develop on Mars. Researchers have now recognized a gene that, when modified, appears to offer rice vegetation a greater probability of surviving in harsh Martian soil.

Martian soil, or regolith, has fewer vitamins than Earth soil and accommodates compounds that may be poisonous to some vegetation. To see how nicely rice can deal with such situations, Abhilash Ramachandran on the University of Arkansas and his colleagues grew rice seeds in a collection of mixtures of standard …