Yeisoo is a research associate professor in plant science at the University of Arizona, and the leader of the Finishing Center at the Arizona Genomics Institute (AGI). He has bachelors and masters degrees in agronomy (1990 and 1988) from Kyung Hee University in Korea, and a PhD in genetics from Clemson University (2000). After writing his dissertation on the development and application of genomics tools for analysis of grass genomes, he has been closely involved in rice genome sequencing.

     Currently, he is also collaborating with the group that is sequencing the maize genome, helping to “finish” it by filling gaps and making sure the sequence is the highest quality it can be. “The FLcDNA work will help to annotate the maize genome,” he says. “The long-term goal is to improve maize production. But in this moment, it’s exciting to collect the majority of the genes in maize. Using this resource, people will be able study their gene of interest and try to improve maize production and adaptation.”

     Cari serves as head of Arizona Genome Computational Laboratory at the University of Arizona. She is also a research associate professor with the BIO5 Institute and the Plant Science department at the University of Arizona, as well as an adjunct professor in Computer Science.

     Cari received her PhD in Computer Science and has since worked in genomics. Her work has ranged from gene identification to physical map assembly, first for the human genome project and now for plants. She finds plant genomics more interesting than human genomics because "plant genomes are more complicated than the human genome mainly due to their tendency towards recent duplication."

     As a systems programmer in the Arizona Genome Computational Laboratory, Karl is making great use of his Applied Math PhD from the University of Arizona. He creates computer programs to help interpret the masses of EST and FLcDNA data being produced by the project. Karl hasn’t taken biology since high school, but he has always enjoyed learning about something new. But the best part of the job, he says, is the “fun programming.”

     He has worked hard with others at the lab to come up with a new and better algorithm for assembling ESTs into contiguous cDNA sequences. “Since I’ve been in math, puzzle-solving is always fun to me and there’s a lot of that in this field.” In addition to math, Karl’s Michigan roots give him a love of ice hockey. Go Red Wings!

     Darren is a life science research assistant in Virginia Walbot’s lab in the Biological Sciences department at Stanford University. He obtained his B.S. in biological science from the University of California, Davis in 1997 and has been working for Virginia since 2001. For this project he is responsible for carrying out the experiments to determine which genes are expressed in various maize tissues as well as how much each gene is expressed. He works with the rest of the group to design the experiments, preps the samples (RNA and cDNA), does hybridizations for microarrays, helps with analysis of arrays, does quantitative real-time PCR, and helps write manuscripts.

     He enjoys the work because, he says, “Corn is one of the more complicated genomes to study because of gene duplication. It’s also one of the major model organisms in plant science, so it’s exciting to be working on something that important. I also enjoy working with this great group of people.” When he’s not in the lab, Darren is a true Californian: he likes to ski, surf, and play guitar.

     After graduating from Stanford with a BS in Biology, John spent several years working for a large computer systems company. He returned to Stanford in 1998 to work on the Maize Gene Discovery Project as a bioinformaticist and has continued in that role for other projects.

     For the Maize Full-length cDNA project, John designs primers for the walking steps to finish clones, analyzes gene expression data, and provides microarray results for the University of Arizona to link to their genome sequencing results.

     Dave received his MS in microbiology at the University of Idaho. He is the leader of the BAC/EST resource center at the Arizona Genomics Institute. This highly automated facility constructs, maintains, and distributes the largest collection of plant and fungal BAC libraries in the world. For the maize FLcDNA project, Dave is in charge of biological resource management, which means he prepares biological materials—such as libraries of clones and clone selections for sequence walking—for distribution to the world community.

     “These small steps that we’re taking in genomics are going to lead to an understanding for the betterment of everyone worldwide,” Dave says. “Hopefully, this work with maize and rice will eventually lead to sustainable agriculture and reliable food sources. I wake up every morning with this as my goal.”

     Kathy, author of these web pages, is a science writer living in Palo Alto with a husband, two children, and a great garden. The plant genetics class she took from Virginia Walbot was one reason she developed a passion for biology a few years ago. “I was blown away when I learned about the three classes of genes (A, B & C) that switch on in various combinations (A, AB, BC, C) to produce the various parts of the flower. What could be simpler and more beautiful?”

     In addition to freelancing, Kathy is managing editor of an NIH-funded magazine, Biomedical Computation Review

     Janet, designer of these pages comes with a variety of experiences. She spent several years as the Quality Control Chemical Analysis Technician in a food production plant. She has received degrees in Physical Therapy, Electronics and worked in both fields. Janet has been designing websites for 6 years.

     I have enjoyed working on these pages and have learned a great deal. Education is one of my greatest passions.