The highly complex sugarcane genome has finally been sequenced
Thursday, July 12, 2018 - 05:50
in Biology & Nature
Sugarcane was the last major cultivated plant to have its genome sequenced. This was because of its huge complexity: The genome comprises between 10 and 12 copies of each chromosome, while the human genome has just two. It was an international team coordinated by CIRAD that achieved this milestone, as reported in Nature Communications on July 6. It will now be possible to modernize the methods used to breed sugarcane varieties. This will be a real boon to the sugar and biomass industry.