Anatomy of a Revolution

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Abstract
WITH this volume, Genetics announces that Arabidopsis has joined the Security Council of Model Genetic Organisms. These favored few form the standard to which all other organisms are compared. Like the Security Council of the United Nations, where there is broad geographical representation, the Security Council of Genetic Organisms seeks broad phylogenetic representation. Therefore, the current membership also includes a virus (lambda), a gram positive bacterium (Bacillus subtilis), a gram negative bacterium (Escherichia coli), a fungus (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), a unicellular alga (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii), a worm (Caenorhabditis elegans), an arthropod (Drosophila melanogaster), a vertebrate (Mus musculus), and humans. The idea is that an intense concentration on the genetics of one of the representatives provides a window on the biology of all the other species in that phylum. Arabidopsis has emerged as the flowering plant delegate, presaging dramatic changes in agriculture and the topsy-turvy world of nutritional sciences.