Of miscanthus, Kardashians, wolves and fishmatoes: taming, mapping, enhancing genomes for bioenergy

Biofuels Digest
Jim Lane March 20, 2012

Newly-public Ceres makes major breakthrough on miscanthus; is the gigantic energy grass ready for prime-time? Why is miscanthus driving so much attention, yet deserving more?
In California, followers of NASDAQ prices noted yesterday that shares in the newly-public Ceres rocketed up 15 percent to close at $17.52. What happened? It was revealed yesterday, in the peer-reviewed, online journal PLoS One that Ceres and the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) at Aberystwyth University in Wales have completed the first high-resolution, comprehensive genetic map of miscanthus. The full article is here.

In other crops, this type of comprehensive genetic mapping has significantly shortened product development timelines. Hence, the lift in the stock.

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