Gene manipulation hasn't helped against this non coding RNA attack because scientists only just discovered it exists. Before this study nobody knew the rice blast fungus could send a long non coding RNA molecule into the plant to hijack its natural microRNA immune guard. Traditional genetic modification focused on protein based resistance genes or boosting general defenses, not on this kind of cross kingdom RNA trickery. Even if you tried to engineer a rice plant to overproduce that microRNA, you might mess up other important processes in the plant because microRNAs have multiple jobs. So it's not that making GM rice is impossible, it is just that you need to know exactly what you are targeting first. Now that the mechanism is exposed, scientists are working on a synthetic RNA spray as a faster fix while also considering breeding rice with naturally high levels of that protective microRNA. Permanent GM solutions are possible but require careful design to avoid collateral damage to the plant's own systems.