Rubber, which has been synonymous with the Malaysian economy for a very long time, is now being overshadowed by oil palm. Its export earnings, including from rubber wood products, account for less than 5% of national export earnings. This can be enhanced if Malaysia develops superior scientific and technical expertise in the crop through the use of genomic research, discovering novel knowledge to move the industry up the value chain. Universiti Sains Malaysia took this bold step when it established the Centre for Chemical Biology (CCB@USM) two years ago. It then embarked on whole genome sequencing of the rubber tree in July 2009 and within four months, completed the raw data generation, assembly and annotation of the draft genome. USM scored a world's first and quickly positioned itself as one of the competitive global centres for genomic research. Today, it has at its disposal a host of intellectual property right (IPR) options on rubber as a new source of wealth for the country's strategic reform initiatives.