Honda and Rice: Rice-Powered Cars? Think Again

This one might surprise you. It shouldn't. The Japanese are notorious for thinking in "out-of-the-box" ways about things. Well, they think in "Eastern" versus "Western" ways.

Through joint research with Nagoya University, Honda Research Institute Japan Co., Ltd. (HRI-JP), a subsidiary of Honda R&D Co., Ltd., discovered a gene which dramatically improves the regeneration ability of rice. The new discovery will lead the way to more rapid improvements in Koshihikari, the most popular variety of rice in Japan.

Plants have an essential ability to regenerate the whole plant body from a piece of tissue. Plant culture applying this regeneration ability has been utilized for the mass reproduction of commercial seedlings or crop improvements. However, it is known that not all the plant species or varieties can regenerate easily.

Many leading varieties of rice in Japan, such as Koshihikari, can rarely be regenerated, resulting in a serious problem of efficient rice improvement. In addition, it has not yet been understood the biological mechanisms regulating the plant regeneration ability.

Read more here.