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Giving the Yeast Community Its Due 

Microbial Genomics Poised for Progress

In your feature article, “Microbial Genomics Poised for Progress,” (December 2000, p.727), the timeline of completed microbial sequencing efforts listed Saccharomyces as being completed in late 1997. However, the sequence was completed in December 1995, and the yeast data were online by March or April 1996. Intensive discussions on sequencing the yeast genome began in 1986 at the Banff International Conference on Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology, with some 700 yeast geneticists participating. By the next conference in Finland in 1988, sequencing had begun, and things moved quickly from there. This project was set up as a cottage industry, which led many of the 100 to 300 labs to develop their skills, while several of them became really good at sequencing. So let's give the yeast community its due. 

  Jack von Borstel 
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada