Newsroom » Carlsberg Research Laboratory Shares Breakthrough Discovery to Assist Safe Crop Resilience Amidst Local weather Change « Carlsberg Group

Innovative Research Unlocks New Tools to Combat Pre-Harvest Sprouting, a Phenomenon that Destroys Billions of Dollars of Crops Worldwide.

Copenhagen, 06 November 2025: The Carlsberg Research Laboratory, the world’s first industrial analysis laboratory, has introduced a scientific breakthrough that would assist safeguard meals crops towards climate-driven losses. In holding with a perception that “like beer, science should be shared,” the Carlsberg-led analysis was printed right now within the peer-reviewed educational journal Science, making the findings obtainable to scientists and breeders worldwide.

Tackling a Billion-Dollar Challenge: Pre-Harvest Sprouting

Unpredictable climate intensified by local weather change causes billions of {dollars} in losses to cereal crops like barley, wheat and rice, as untimely sprouting earlier than harvest—referred to as pre-harvest sprouting (PHS)—reduces grain high quality and threatens meals safety. Grains that germinate earlier than harvest typically don’t meet high quality necessities in downstream industrial processes and are extra vulnerable to spoilage, mould, and fungal contamination – which means the grains are sometimes not even appropriate as animal feed. These losses could be devastating to farmers, communities and companies that depend on a constant manufacturing of high-quality crops. The Carlsberg Research Laboratory-led worldwide group has uncovered how the complicated genetics of a single gene, MKK3, controls seed dormancy and sprouting danger in barley, revealing new methods to breed crops which can be each resilient to local weather extremes and fitted to numerous agricultural wants.

“At Carlsberg, we believe that science should be shared,” mentioned Birgitte Skadhauge, Vice President and Head of the Carlsberg Research Laboratory. “By publishing our research in Science, we’re inviting the global scientific community to build on our findings, accelerate progress, and help secure the future of food. This breakthrough is bigger than beer – it’s about brewing a better tomorrow for everyone.”

A Global Effort, A Global Impact

Using superior genetic evaluation and discipline trials throughout continents, the researchers mapped the variety of MKK3 gene variants in barley from all over the world. 

“Our work shows how centuries of farming and climate adaptation have shaped the genetic landscape of this vital crop and provides a roadmap for breeders to balance dormancy and sprouting risk—helping farmers everywhere grow better crops, even as weather becomes more unpredictable,” mentioned Christoph Dockter, Head of Cereal Crop Development on the Carlsberg Research Laboratory. 

Key Findings at a Glance

• MKK3 gene variety: The group recognized how totally different variations of the MKK3 gene have an effect on seed dormancy and sprouting danger, with some variants providing better resilience to moist harvest circumstances.
• Global mapping: Figures from the analysis illustrate the worldwide distribution of those gene variants displaying the choice dynamics of century-long domestication and breeding and spotlight areas the place farmers face the best danger from PHS.
• Field trials: Data from multi-year discipline trials present how focused breeding will help stability crop efficiency and resilience, supporting sustainable agriculture in a altering local weather.

Founded in 1875, the Carlsberg Research Laboratory is the birthplace of scientific discoveries that attain far past beer. From inventing the pH scale in 1909, to successful a Nobel Prize for click on chemistry in 2022, to creating expertise to breed climate-resilient crops for the long run, the improvements popping out of the Carlsberg Research Laboratory received’t simply change your beer, they could simply change the world. Thanks to grants from the Carlsberg Foundation, the Carlsberg Research Laboratory is empowered to do necessary long-term, scientific analysis that’s too sluggish and too dangerous for different firms to pursue.

Carlsberg Research Laboratory researchers, led by Christoph Dockter and Morten E. Jørgensen with Birgitte Skadhauge collaborated with a world group of researchers together with Dominique Vequaud (SECOBRA Recherches), Eske Willerslev (University of Copenhagen, University of Cambridge), Nils Stein (Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, University of Halle) and Robbie Waugh (International Barley Hub/James Hutton Institute, University of Dundee, University of Adelaide) to publish this discovery.

This discovery enhances Carlsberg Group’s ongoing dedication to constructing a resilient worth chain, like piloting regenerative agriculture and replenishing water in high-risk basins. Similar to the analysis unveiled right now, these actions not solely search to guard nature and society, however they assist guarantee our enterprise can proceed to thrive for generations to come back.

More info, together with a replica of the paper with a full listing of authors, could be discovered on-line on the Science press package deal at