Gluten in wheat has gotten a bad rap lately, and the finger is pointed at new wheat varieties that have been developed over the past couple of decades as the root of the problem. Although there is no GMO wheat released for production, wheat breeders continue to develop cultivars for traits like resistance to disease, better yields, and drought tolerance. They use time tested methods of selecting for particular traits, such as cross pollinating plants to finally get seed that consistently produces wheat with the desired traits.
Researcher at North Dakota State University analyzed wheat cultivars released over the past 100 years to determine if the new varieties carried a higher probably of triggering celiac disease, a severe autoimmune disease that affects 1% of the population world wide.