Rice, revealed
Researchers have finished a 6-year-long effort to sequence the genome of rice.
The accomplishment makes the popular cereal the second plant ever to have its full genome sequenced. In 2003, scientists sequenced the genetics-research workhorse Arabidopsis thaliana, a mustard plant.
This latest project pooled the resources of research groups from more than 10 countries, including a team led by Robin Buell of the Institute for Genomic Research in Rockville, Md.