Liverpool/Bristol - Getting the measure of a grain

Researchers have released "raw" sequences of the wheat genome. The sequences, which include 95 per cent of all wheat genes, were made by teams from the University of Liverpool, the University of Bristol and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council's John Innes Centre. Neil Hall, professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Liverpool, said the sequences were a step towards compiling a fully annotated sequence of the wheat genome, which is five times larger than that of humans. "By making the data publicly available, we are ensuring this publicly funded research has the widest possible impact," he added.