Scientists in Japan are racing against time to save the country’s most popular rice from the devastating effects of climate change.

At a research center in Niigata Prefecture, Japan’s mountainous heartland of rice production, a team of scientists has identified a pattern within rice DNA that makes certain varieties of the plant resistant to heat.

They are now embarking on a quest to crossbreed that genetic signature into Koshihikari, the Japanese rice that has overwhelmingly topped supermarket sales in the country for over 40 years.

Whether they succeed could determine the fate of the bouncy and sweet cultivar long regarded as the “king” of Japanese rices.

Last year, Koshihikari rice across Japan was devastated by the hottest summer on record. Compared with other types of rice, Koshihikari has a particularly low tolerance for heat, and the scorching temperatures turned its grains cloudy and brittle.

That was a crushing blow to farmers in Niigata, where Koshihikari rice is the economy’s biggest agricultural output.