Long's group worked with tobacco plants because they are easy to study. Now they are experimenting with rice, soybeans, cowpeas, and cassava – four important food crops.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provided money for the study.
The organization says any new technology approved from this research will be made freely available to farmers in Africa and South Asia.
I’m Anne Ball.
Steve Baragona reported on this story for VOANews.com. Anne Ball adapted his report for Learning English with additional information from Reuters. George Grow was the editor.
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