BGI-Sanya, part of the genome research organisation BGI Group, has entered into a research collaboration with KeyGene to evaluate the use of BGI’s spatial transcriptomics platform, Stereo-Seq, for plant breeding. The collaboration's first project will focus on using Stereo-Seq to identify lead genes involved in the interaction between plants and pathogens. These leads can then act as the basis for the development of crop varieties that contain novel resistances against pathogens.