With The Scientists' report in hand, NSF was ready when molecular biologists completed the Arabidopsis genome in December 2000.2 The foundation made the 2010 Project a reality by soliciting proposals aimed at the plant's functional genomics. Says NSF director Rita Colwell, the agency's effort "is essential to this growing area of biotechnology research and its many applications." On Oct. 1, NSF announced Project 2010's first 28 awards totaling nearly $44 million.
Selected from 106 competitive submissions, the awardees hale from 43 institutions and 20 states. According to Vicki Chandler, president of the American Society of Plant Biologists, "A better understanding [via the 2010 Project] of how plant genes function will have profound benefits for people throughout the world and for our environment. It's a new world we're entering."
The cytochrome P450 gene family is a good example. Mary Schuler of the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign wants to characterize Arabidopsis' ...