Scientists sequence wheat genome in breakthrough once thought 'impossible'

Genome able to be used to produce hardier wheat varieties as greater food security needed

Sequencing the wheat genome - once considered by scientists to be an insurmountable task - has been achieved through a worldwide collaboration of researchers spanning 13 years.

On Friday the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) published a detailed description of the genome of bread wheat in the journal Science.