Wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.) is the direct ancestor of Asian cultivated rice (O. sativa L.) — an important staple food for more than half of the global population. Wild rice plants/populations are commonly found in close affinity to and hybridize with cultivated rice, which significantly affects the evolutionary process and population dynamics of the wild rice. The photograph shows that a Bangladesh boy was helping to collect panicles of natural hybrids between O. rufipogon and cultivated rice in a pond, for germplam conservation. Phtographed by Bao-Rong LU. See more details of some studies on human and humaninfl uenced evolution in this issue. and cultivated rice in a pond, for germplam conservation. Phtographed by Bao-Rong LU. See more details of some studies on human and humaninfl uenced evolution in this issue. [Detail] ...