As a plant molecular researcher, I started my research on Arabidopsis, just as many researchers did. I did my BS thesis on the fine mapping of a gene controling flowering time using an F2 mapping population. On joining PGML in 2003, I started working on the physical and genetic mapping of Gossypium species.
Cotton, as we know it, is famous for its lint fiber that made possible the billion-dollar cotton industry. I don't have to emphasize the importance of cotton fiber in our lives: without it, most of us will literally lose our underpants. However, the benefits cotton has brought us extends much more beyond textile. "Naked" cotton seeds from the ginning process can be further processed to produce cotton oil. This oil is then used in many versatile ways, one of which is to produce potato chips. That's not all, even the remainings after that can be used to feed live stock, and guess what, the cows and hourses loved it.
So, isn't a plant that gave us so much worth understanding more about?
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