New way to stop spread of rice blast found

London: In a breakthrough, scientists have found a way to stop the spread of rice blast, a fungus that destroys up to 30 per cent of the world’s rice crop each year. A team led by the University of Exeter showed that chemical genetic inhibition of a single protein in the fungus stops it from spreading inside a rice leaf — leaving it trapped within a single plant cell. However, the scientists caution that this is a “fundamental” discovery — not a cure that can yet be applied outside the laboratory. PTI