Scientists crack the genome of Singapore's national flower

A collaboration between A*STAR's Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and SingHealth Duke-NUS Institute of Biodiversity Medicine (BD-MED) has decoded the entire genetic blueprint of Singapore's National Flower, Papilionanthe Miss Joaquim, also commonly known as Vanda Miss Joaquim (VMJ). Chemical profiling, informed by the genome analysis, further uncovered natural products such as flavonols and anthocyanins, notable for their antioxidant properties and distinctive color pattern. The study was published in Communications Biology on September 15, 2022.