Farmers Are Researching How to Grow GlutenFree Wheat
Kansas farmers are funding research to learn how to grow gluten-free wheat. The Kansas Wheat Commission is putting 200,000 towards two years of research to understand all the parts of wheat's DNA that cause problems for people with gluten sensitivities, the Associated Press reports. Researchers are focusing on various proteins in wheatas well as exploring past varieties of wheatthat may have fallen out of favor in recent years, but may be tolerable for wider population. Gluten is a substance in wheat that gives dough elasticity. For people with celiac disease, consuming gluten can result in intestinal problems. While a small percentage of people in the United States have celiac disease, the gluten-free diet has become widely adopted. The research, still in the very early stages, began in July at the Wheat Innovation Center in Manhattan, Kansas, the AP reports.