The seventh complete sequence of a bacterial genome is now reported, and is a cause for much excitement as more is known about this bacterium —Escherichia coli— than any other organism in the world. Yet, amazingly, we do not know the function of more than 40% of the genes, and working out exactly what these 'orphan' genes do will be the next big challenge.
- E. Richard Moxon
- Christopher F. Higgins