In February 2017, Professor George Lomonossoff and Dr Ian Gibson revived a hundred-year relationship between the John Innes Centre and St Petersburg, Russia.

Arabidopsis’ story continues (catch up on part 1 and part 2) and the weed now forms the foundation of thousands of studies around the world, including at the John Innes Centre.

It would be easy to assume that with the characteristics laid out in part 1 of this blog, that Arabidopsis was always an obvious choice as a model organism, however its story is as tangled and complex as the bed of weeds it was plucked from.

Depending on the type of person you are, if someone described you as having “no particular virtues or uses” it may make you pretty determined to prove that person wrong and become unequivocally useful.