The genes that could help the world’s crops survive drought, heat and disease probably already exist. But much of this genetic diversity remains hidden within ancient plant varieties and forgotten seed collections, among millions of DNA differences that are difficult to spot.

Now, a new way of reading crop genomes is helping scientists uncover these variations.

Instead of comparing plant DNA to a single reference genome, researchers are beginning to scan genomes as collections of tiny fragments known as k-mers. These short strings of genetic code, tipically a few dozen DNA bases long, act like molecular barcodes, allowing scientists to quickly identify which fragments appear in which plants. That makes it possible to compare genetic variation across thousands of samples simultaneously.

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