IT IS the story of Jack and the Beanstalk: the Christmas pantomime tale of a
boy with a handful of magic beans that overnight grow to the sky. The beanstalk
helps Jack to defeat the wicked giant, make his fortune, and save his family
from starvation.
This week the fairy story has come to life. The role of Jack is played by the
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, whose research
centres around the world hold a collection of seeds for half a million or more
traditional crop varieties. The sequencing of the genome of thale cress,
Arabidopsis thaliana, has…
