Researchers at IRRI cross-pollinated Sub1 rice with a high-yielding, flavorful variety called Swarna, which is popular in India and Bangladesh. Then they screened the DNA to determine which seedlings had actually inherited the Sub1 gene. The technology, called marker-assisted breeding, is more accurate and saves time. The researchers didn’t have to plant the seedlings, grow them, and then submerge them for two weeks to see which would survive.