Waterhemp belongs to the genus Amaranthus which also includes weeds, such as pigweeds that are a problem worldwide. The genetic information of the waterhemp weed was recently identified using the pyrosequencing technology at the Keck Center at the University of Illinois. The technique revolutionizes genomic sequencing which usually takes more than 2 years to complete. The pyrosequencing machine allows sequencing reactions in every one of the tiny wells in parallel, allowing completion of the sequence in one seven and a half hour run. 

The weedhemp genomic sequence is available in the website and can be used to study the weed and how it evolves, its differences with cultivated plants, compare related and unrelated species of weeds in the genus, and study possible evolution and mechanism of herbicide resistance. 

See the press release for more details at: http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/news/stories/news4860.html