Climate change / crop breeding: new pathways for adaptation through the study of ancient genomes (INRAE)

The reconstruction of 10 ancient genomes, particularly those of wheat and barley, and their study by research teams from French public research bodies INRAE, the University of Clermont Auvergne and the CNRS, have made it possible to identify how these crops have adapted to environmental stresses, such as droughts, and has opened up new avenues for plant breeding programmes aimed at adapting to climate change, according to INRAE on 26 August 2026.

The comparative study, focusing in particular on wheat and barley genes, has identified around a hundred gene variants that play key roles in the adaptation of these crops to different climates, over the course of their 10,000 years of domestication and selection by humans.

The scientists have developed two open-access tools for scientists and…