New genetic research from the University of Florida may help make key crops such as potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers more resistant to disease and environmentally resilient as well as increase their nutritional value.

“Our research illustrates the remarkable potential of combining deep taxonomic expertise with cutting-edge biotechnology,” author Fabio Pasin told the Chinese Academy of Sciences, via Phys.org. “By focusing on the Solanaceae family, we can enhance not only widely recognized crops but also bring underutilized species into the agricultural mainstream, improving food security and enriching nutritional diversity across the globe.”

Researchers used recombinant virus technologies to give new breeds of plants particular traits. This method is very specific about promoting certain traits in new breeds. Scary as it might sound to use an engineered virus to change the DNA of our food, it’s a way of improving biodiversity in agriculture when farming has become more and more homogeneous and thus vulnerable.