In this Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012 photo, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is lit during the 80th annual tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center in New York. Scientists are working to decipher the DNA code of conifers, like this Norway spruce at Rockefeller Center in New York. In late 2012, scientific teams in the United States and Canada have released preliminary, patchy descriptions of conifer genomes. And a Swedish team plans to follow suit soon in its quest for the Norway spruce. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Huge DNA code of the Christmas tree being revealed
In this Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012 photo, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is lit during the 80th annual tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center in New York. Scientists are working to decipher the DNA code of conifers, like this Norway spruce at Rockefeller Center in New York. In late 2012, scientific teams in the United States and Canada have released preliminary, patchy descriptions of conifer genomes. And a Swedish team plans to follow suit soon in its quest for the Norway spruce. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
By MALCOLM RITTER
AP Science Writer /
December 14, 2012
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He said his chief reason for tackling conifer genomes was to fill a conspicuous vacancy in the list of sequenced plants.
‘‘It was like the one missing piece,’’ he said. ‘‘We just need this final piece to say something about how all the plant kingdom has evolved over the last billion years or so.’’
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Online:
Canadian project: http://bit.ly/UQdTPd
U.S. project: http://pinegenome.org/pinerefseq/
Swedish project: http://www.congenie.org/
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Malcolm Ritter can be followed at http://twitter.com/malcolmritter
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