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In 1976, scientists had completed the first genome sequencing, a relatively small 3,569 base pair genome belonging to the single-stranded Bacteriophage MS2 RNA virus. Since then, scientists have worked tirelessly to sequence the genomes of many other organisms, including nematodes, fruit flies, platypus and, of course, humans.
An international group of scientists wants to give new impetus to this effort with an ambitious plan to sequence the genome of all eukaryotic species on the planet. This is more than 1.5 million species, all organisms with cells that have a nucleus.
Oh, and they want to do it in the next 10 years.
Biodiversity in the UK
The Earth BioGenome Project (EBP) was first proposed in April 2017, with a perspective paper published earlier this year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In this document, 24 scientists have outlined the reasons for EBP, explaining that sequencing of all eukaryotic species on Earth will "illuminate a wide range of major problems facing humanity, such as the impact of climate change. on biodiversity, conservation of threatened species and ecosystems and preservation and enhancement of ecosystem services ".
EBP will include more than 12 established sequencing projects, many of which are already focused on specific life forms. In addition to sequencing, the project seeks to standardize sequencing efforts around the world to make the data useful to scientists around the world, not just to those in a particular field.
"When you go to communities, it's chaos, it's anarchy," says Lewin. "If you get to the end and everyone else acts, it will be Babylon's turn in the end," said Harris Lewin, an evolution biologist at the University of California, Davis, and president. from EBP. Nature.
The genome of the red squirrel was sequenced by the Wellcome Sanger Institute. (Photo: Giedriius / Shutterstock)
The process officially started on November 2nd and focused on the Wellcome Sanger Institute in the UK. In addition to the Natural History Museum in London, the Royal Botanic Gardens-Kew, the Earlham Institute, Edinburgh Genomics, the University of Edinburgh and others, the Sanger Institute will serve as the "Genomics Center" for the initiative called Darwin Tree of Life Project. This branch of the project will focus exclusively on species present in the United Kingdom – 66 000 of them.
"The Darwin Tree of Life project is an extremely important step forward for the Earth BioGenome project and will serve as a model for other parallel national efforts," said Lewin in a statement issued by the Sanger Institute. "The Wellcome Sanger Institute has decades of experience in sequencing and genome biology, helping to build the global capacity needed to produce high-quality, large-scale genomes."
The Sanger Institute has already published the genomes of 25 UK species in early October to celebrate its 25th anniversary. These genomes included brown trout, red and gray squirrels, blackberries, ash and gray otters.
Genetic costs
At least one scientist has rejected the costs and objectives of the Earth BioGenome project, saying it could hinder conservation efforts, such as this planting plant project in Madagascar. (Photo: Elona K Hart / Shutterstock)
The Sanger Institute is expected to spend £ 50 million ($ 64.8 million) over eight years to set up processes for sample collection, sequencing and genome assembly. The total cost of Darwin's first five years of Tree of Life project is expected to be around £ 100 million.
The entire project is expected to cost nearly $ 5 billion. The project accounts for about one-third of the $ 600 million needed for the next three years, which will include part of the first phase of the project: genome sequencing of one species from each of the 9,000 taxonomic families.
The cost and objectives of the project have raised the eyebrows of some scientists, including Jeff Ollerton, a professor of biodiversity at the University of Northampton. Ollerton tweeted this "Sequencing the genomes of all life on Earth will do nothing to conserve them if we do not protect their ecosystems – it's the science of vanity at best." Five billion dollars would protect a lot of habitat. "
Ollerton criticized the Earth BioGenome project at the official announcement of the project in April 2017, saying it had the same flaw as "naming all species". sequenced requires to survive.
In relation with MNN:
Biologists launch a "moonshot" plan to sequence the DNA of everything that lives on Earth
The Earth BioGenome project aims to sequence the genomes of all 1.5 million known eukaryotic species of the Earth in a decade.
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