Image: Jim Leebens-Mack, Professor in Plant Biology, together with Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar Arthur Edison and the students in their bioinformatics class, sequenced the genomes of the famous hedges in Sanford stadium. They tested whether the current hedges in Sanford Stadium were genetic clones or cousins of the hedges first planted in 1929. The hedges were removed for the 1996 Olympics to make space for a larger soccer field. The hedges were replanted after the Olympics, but it was unclear whether these were the original hedges with their storied history. The students of Jim Leebens-Mack and Art Edison confirmed that today’s hedges are from the same stock as their predecessors with nearly identical genomes, going back to first planting of the hedges almost 100 years ago. To read the complete story in UGA today, click here.
