Gene-modified rice may be able to grow on Mars.

Gene-modified rice plants may be able to grow on Mars. Researchers have now identified a gene that appears to give rice plants a better chance of survival in harsh marshy soils when improved.

Martian soil, or regolith, has less nutrients than Earth’s soil and contains compounds that can be toxic to some plants. To see how well rice would handle such conditions, Abhilash Ramachandran and his colleagues at the University of Arkansas grew rice seeds in a series of regular mixes…