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August 11, 2005
The Rice Genome Sequenced - fun for historians, too!
This article about the sequencing of the rice genome in the Washington Post is all about the wonders of science and feeding the poor and agribusiness. I'm delighted for scientists and the hungry and Monsanto, but all this genomics is going to be fun for us, too -- remember the crazy sheep dna project? Little snippets of manuscript may someday tell us how big the flocks and herds were in the past (and not just Europe -- writing on leather or using leather bindings is common.
The article makes it clear that rice was first because it's easiest, but corn and wheat are on their way. Won't it be interesting to work out how corn really developed? Agricultural genetics will tell us heaps and heaps about the past -- it's already doing so, but the river of knowledge will only increase. Yay!
Posted by CrankyProfessor at August 11, 2005 7:12 AM