Abstract
A sterile strain of corn that has been used for making hybrid seed corn carries the Texas male-sterile cytoplasm and does not make pollen. In a report in this issue of Science (see Cui et al ., page 1334 ), cloning of a gene that can restore fertility to these plants is announced. In his Perspective, Levings discussed why the identification of this gene Rf2 as an aldehyde dehydrogenase is surprising and how it may work to reverse the male sterile phenotype.