Purdue University scientists led an effort to sequence the soybean genome, giving researchers a better understanding of the plant's genes and how to use them to improve its characteristics. Agronomy professor Scott Jackson said the U.S. departments of Energy and Agriculture study found that the soybean has about 46,000 genes, but many of those - 70 percent to 80 percent - are duplicates. This duplication may make it difficult to target the genes necessary to improve soybean characteristics such as seed size, oil content or yield... 

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