The human genome project and subsequent efforts have driven technological advances and led to an exponential increase in sequence data acquisition. New bioinformatic tools allow researchers to query and analyze sequence data as never before. Yet, the functional meaning of sequence and expression information, how genotype maps to phenotype (and vice versa), and the dynamic relationship between gene expression and cellular behavior, tissue function, developmental processes and homeostatic and adaptive mechanisms, has lagged behind. There is an urgent need for the integration of high-throughput genomics methods and experimentally accessible model systems, in order to answer central questions of biological behavior. An obvious choice for a biological system in which to reconcile genomics and functions is the clawed frog Xenopus laevis . We discuss the advantages of Xenopus as an experimental model, and its potential for making significant contributions in the area of functional...