The project opens up many new opportunities for plant biotechnologists. It is like landing on the shores of a new continent - one can see the opportunities, even though you don't know what's there. Through the Arabidopsis sequencing project, plant biotechnology has provided us with the opportunity to explore the genetic richness of plants, to understand and conserve plant biodiversity and to better use plants in agriculture. Although small, the Arabidopsis genome is composed of some 26,000 genes, more genes than it takes to make a worm or fruit fly. Although plants don't move about and don't have a nervous system, they are surprisingly complex.
Plants make many exotic chemicals, ward off predators and respond to harsh environmental conditions.
The roles of only about 10 percent of the genes have been examined experimentally in plants, but the function of at least half of the genes in the Arabidopsis genome are totally unknown. First, the sequence provides us with the basic information about what it takes to make a plant. Plants are fundamental to life on earth and the more we know about them, the better we can serve as stewards of our planet. With plant genome information we can assess the genetic biodiversity of crop plants and plants in their natural habitat and better understand how to conserve their genetic richness. Second, the genome information allows us to understand at a molecular level what we are doing when we use plants for human purposes - when we attempt to breed them and improve them for agriculture.