MARPLE: the real-time cereal killer detective

A new case study by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council shines a spotlight on the MARPLE (Mobile and Real-time PLant disEase) Diagnostics kit, a revolutionary technology that can identify fungus strains in just two days.

MARPLE, which was developed by the John Innes Centre in collaboration with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), is currently being rolled out across five major research hubs in Ethiopia. As sub-Saharan Africa’s largest wheat producer, Ethiopia is considered “a gateway for new rust pathogen strains entering from Asia”.

Read the case study:

MARPLE: the real-time cereal killer detective