Scientists at John Innes Centre and the University of Queensland have refined speed breeding techniques , first developed by NASA to breed plants extraterrestrially , to research and develop crop improvement . The technique optimises productivity and promotes the rapid growth of crops by using enhanced crop lights with day - long regimes of up to 22 hours , significantly accelerating the breeding cycle of plants . This enables the researchers to fast - track genetic improvements for the breeding of higher yields , disease resistance , and crop resilience in crops such as wheat and barley , and allows them to carry out the work in compact desktop environments .
Scientists at John Innes Centre and the University of Queensland have refined speed breeding technology, first developed by NASA to grow plants extraterrestrially, to research and develop crop improvement. The technique optimises photosynthesis and promotes the rapid growth of crops by using enhanced LED lights with day-long regimes of up to 22 hours, significantly accelerating the breeding cycle of plants. This enables the researchers to fast-track genetic improvements for the breeding of higher yields, disease resistance, and climate resilience in crops such as wheat and barley, and allows them to carry out the work in compact desktop chambers.