A small, unassuming fern-like plant has something massive lurking within: the largest genome ever discovered, outstripping the human genome by more than 50 times. Study co-author Jaume Pellicer, an ...

May 31 (Reuters) - You thought the living organism with ;/"he largest genome might be the blue whale, an African elephant or perhaps a giant redwood tree? Not even close. A human being? Wrong again.

A printed version of the entire human genome would fill 220 large books. To do the same for a small, seemingly unremarkable fern found on a few Pacific islands would require nearly 11,000 books. The ...