As the major specialized metabolites of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, glucosinolates have become model specialized metabolites with all the advantages this brings to glucosinolate research, e.g. in the form of extensive ‘omics tools, natural variation and mutant collections. Here will be presented a general introduction to glucosinolates ranging from the evolution of glucosinolates to the many roles glucosinolates have for humans as well as an overview of the current knowledge on the orchestration of the glucosinolate biosynthetic pathway. The latter includes an introduction to the genes in the biosynthetic pathway, localization of the enzymes at the cellular level and the storage of the glucosinolates in the S-cells. In addition, the status on transport of glucosinolates is presented with focus on the lessons learnt from the first identified glucosinolate transporters, namely the importers localized to the plasma membrane. Examples of how the knowledge gained from basic research has been translated into applied glucosinolate research through pathway and transport engineering will be presented.