Scientists have mapped all the genes of the fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe), which they hope will provide new insights into basic cell biology. An international team led by Paul Nurse of Cancer Research Centre, the UK, has done the sequencing. S pombe is the sixth organism to have its genome sequenced. The others include humans, the nematode worm, the fruit fly and mustard weed. The sequencing is being considered significant as 50 of the 4,824 genes in the yeast are linked to human diseases such as cystic fibrosis, hereditary deafness, diabetes and cancer (www.yahoo.com [2] , March 1 ,2002).