Investigators in selected areas of research frequently are oblivious to work in related areas. In the peptide fi eld, for example, many investigators working with mammalian peptides are unaware of the large number of peptides from other forms of life, such as the hundreds of venom peptides from scorpions, snakes, sea anemones, spiders, insects, and worms. They also usually overlook the applicability of many pertinent observations made with different types of peptides, such as those in bacteria. This point is emphasized by a statement in the chapter by Nicolas and Amiche: “The discovery of the considerable extent of sequence identity between the neuropeptide and antimicrobial peptide precursors is unprecedented”; I suspect that it is also little known. and who would have thought that plants make peptides (the fi rst being identifi ed in 1991 by Clarence A. (Bud) Ryan, editor of the Plant Peptides Section) and that they can function as hormones.