ABSTRACT
The potential for genomic approaches to enhance and streamline breeding programs has been recognized for some time, and the advent of genomic techniques was predicted over 20 years ago (1,2). In the 5th Edition of A Dictionary of Genetics (3), genomics as a separate concept is not even mentioned, yet much of what is included under genomics today was in practice in the 1990s. What has changed is a matter of scale. Within the past decade techniques or tools that allow us to examine the entire genome have become available, and in many cases their use is routine. The goal of genomics is to further our understanding of how an organism operates, and it has proven a highly efficient approach in bacterial and fungal systems. It is clear that genomics will also prove to be highly productive in plant systems. A precise definition of the word genomics will not be given here, but a broad definition would include the characterization, investigation, and utilization of genes and gene products from all organisms, as well as the development of the tools to perform such studies and applications.
