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According to Luigi Cattivelli, the history of durum wheat dates back more than 10,000 years when Neolithic farmers began cultivating a wild plant called emmer. These early farmers selected seeds with characteristics that made emmer easier to harvest and consume. Over generations, through selective cultivation and crossbreeding, they first developed durum wheat and later soft wheat for bread production.
As small groups of people migrated from the Fertile Crescent, an area in the Middle East where agriculture first began, they brought wheat seeds with them. These plants adapted to the climates and conditions of new lands, including Italy, where durum wheat became the key ingredient for pasta.
Cattivelli, an expert in wheat genomics, states that the next chapter in wheat’s history lies in our immediate future. Scientists must develop new wheat varieties to cope with the rapid pace of climate change. “We must adapt to the climate just as our ancestors did,” he says. “The only difference is that climate change is now occurring within the same location over just a few decades.”
Cattivelli leads the Genomics Research Center in Fiorenzuola, which is part of CREA, the Italian government’s Council for Agricultural Research and Agricultural Economy Analysis. He and his colleagues, along with plant geneticists from around the world, are leveraging Microsoft Azure’s cloud computing power to unlock the secrets of durum wheat and other wheat varieties.
Through the PanGenome Project, in collaboration with the University of Bologna and global researchers, they are studying the genomes of around 40 wheat varieties and their ancient ancestors. Their goal is to identify traits that would help wheat thrive under extreme conditions, use natural resources efficiently, and resist diseases and pests, reducing the need for fertilizers and pesticides.
This research is crucial not just for Italy but for the entire world, as wheat accounts for about 20% of global calorie consumption. Climate change poses a direct threat to food production due to droughts, heatwaves, and extreme weather events.
With Microsoft’s collaboration, CREA has built a cloud-based platform capable of analyzing vast amounts of genetic data. These petabytes of data are processed in an Azure-based genomic pipeline, which helps scientists assemble the complex wheat genome puzzle. Microsoft’s cloud technology provides the necessary computational resources to process and analyze genetic data at unprecedented speeds.
The ability to work on shared data in real-time has accelerated research progress. Researchers from Canada, Australia, Japan, and the U.S. can now collaborate more effectively. “What matters most is how we conduct science,” says Cattivelli. “We are making real progress.”
Looking to the future, the insights gained from this genomic research will be incorporated into new wheat varieties that farmers can adopt in the coming years. This multidisciplinary approach, combining biology, bioinformatics, and information technology, is the latest chapter in the long history of wheat cultivation.
“It’s an exciting time for researchers,” says Curtis Pozniak, director of the Crop Development Center at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. Thanks to modern computational tools, tasks that once took years can now be completed in weeks or months.
Ultimately, these efforts aim to ensure food security for future generations in the face of a rapidly changing climate.