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Article: Drawing up blueprints for a simple plant; Geneticists are almost finished mapping a simple weed, laying the foundation for mastering plant genetics.(NEWS)
- Article from:
- Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
- Article date:
- May 31, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Star Tribune Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The plant itself is a mere weed, so small that M. David Marks can hold three pots of it in one hand in order to display its growth stages.
Some people call it mouse-ear cress, Marks said, pointing to one of the pots. Each of the stems poking out of the soil sported two leaves, looking very much like the soft ears of - you guessed it, a mouse - except that they were the color of spring grass.
He also called it a guinea pig. That's because it is the plant of choice for experiments not only by Marks, a molecular biologist at the University of Minnesota, but by numerous scientists throughout the world, who use it for research into cells and how they make up a ...