The gene sequences for two rice varieties were published in the 5 April issue of Science.

In this editorial, Science editor Donald Kennedy points out the value of having this information in the public domain, given that the nutritional status of the hundreds of millions of people around the world who depend on rice could be improved as a result.

He also tackles the controversy surrounding Science’s decision to publish Syngenta’s results without forcing it to make its data available through a public database such as GenBank.

Reference: Science 296, 13 (2002)