Chinese scientists rush to climate-proof potatoes

FILE - A worker wearing a protective suit harvests potato tubers at a greenhouse in Yakeshi, Inner Mongolia, China, June 16, 2024. FILE - Researcher Li Yafei rinses a potato plant grown inside a heat chamber at a research facility under the International Potato Center (CIP), in the Yanqing district, Beijing, May 14, 2024.

In a research facility in the northwest of Beijing, molecular biologist Li Jieping and his team harvest a cluster of seven unusually small potatoes, one as tiny as a quail's egg, from a potted plant.