Global food security given another boost with new wheat variety An international consortium of scientists has developed a hardy new wheat variety that is resistant to a particularly virulent fungal disease that threatens global food security. According to the study – partially funded by The 2Blades Foundation and published in Nature Biotechnology – stem rust is one of the world’s most devastating plant diseases, with records of stem rust pandemics dating back over 2,000 years. The stem rust pathogen Puccinia graminis is capable of completely destroying a crop of wheat in a matter of weeks. The most effective and environmentally benign way to control wheat rust is through the use of genetic resistance and a successful solution was developed by Norman Borlaug’s breakthrough Green Revolution in the 1960s.