Can cross-breeding, using a boost from genetic information, give New Hampshire its own quinoa?

I followed up this week on a press release that Granite Geek printed last week concerning UNH research seeking to develop a variant of quinoa which can grow in New Hampshire.

Regardless of your opinion of hipsters’ favorite grain (quinoa is pretty good, if you ignore its image), the project is fascinating – it seeks to find weedy relatives of quinoa in N.H. and cross-breed the crop with them, being guided by marker genes, which is hard for quinoa because its tetraploid.

My column is here. Read it with a side order of arugula and avocado toast.