Launch of a global effort to read the genetic code of all complex life forms on Earth

The Earth BioGenome Project (EBP), a global project to sequence the genetic code (s) of 1.5 million known animal, plant, protozoan and fungal species on Earth, is officially launched today (1st November) as scientific partners and key donors for meetings in London, UK, to discuss progress in the organization and funding of the project.

The EBP will eventually create a new base for biology to propose solutions to preserve biodiversity and preserve human societies.

The EBP aims to sequence, catalog and categorize the genomes of all eukaryotic biodiversity of the Earth over a period of ten years. The estimated cost of EBP is $ 4.7 billion. Given the inflation, the human genome project would cost $ 5 billion today.

The EBP is made possible by the recent and future advances in sequencing and information technologies that will enable partner institutions around the world to read and interpret the genome of tens of thousands of people every year. # 39; species.

A better understanding of the Earth's biodiversity and responsible management of its resources are among the most crucial scientific and social challenges of the new millennium. Meeting these challenges requires new scientific knowledge about the evolution and interactions among millions of organisms on the planet.

At present, less than 3,500, or about 0.2% of all known eukaryotic species, have had their genome sequenced, with less than 100 of reference quality. Sequencing of all known eukaryotic genomes, by thousands, of reference quality, will revolutionize our understanding of biology and evolution, strengthen efforts to conserve, protect and restore biodiversity and, in return , create new benefits for society and human well-being.

The EBP has made extraordinary progress in the last year leading up to the official launch. The initial stages of EBP served as an organizational glue for existing large-scale genome projects and their partner institutions on eukaryotic species around the world. To this end, 17 institutions from around the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Germany, Denmark, Australia and Brazil, have signed a protocol of approval. agreement that commits each institution to work together to achieve the common objectives of the project. It is expected that other partner institutions, organizations and communities will join as the project progresses.

The amount of biological data that will be collected and produced from this project should be on the exascale; more than the data accumulated by Twitter, YouTube or astronomy. The project participants agreed in the EBP agreement that the data would be stored in public domain databases and that access would be open to all for research purposes.

This project will build on the recent achievements of sequencing genomes sets for the first time. For example, the project on vertebrate genomes, chaired by Erich Jarvis of Rockefeller University, aims to sequence the genetic code of the 66,000 existing vertebrates and has published the genomes of 14 species, including bats and fish, the Canadian lynx and the kakapo.

The BGI (Shenzhen, China) is also playing a major role in the project by leading the sequencing efforts of 10,000 genomes of plants and the Global Ant Genomes Alliance, which aims to sequence about 200 ant genomes. Similarly, the USDA strives to sequence 100 genomes of insects and mites of agricultural importance. A total of 15 scientific communities and national and regional projects are affiliated with EBP.

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the Institute and its collaborators sequenced for the first time the genomes of 25 species found in the UK, including red and gray squirrels, European blackbird, spider fennel and Blackberry. . The completed genomic sequences will lead to future studies aimed at understanding the UK's biodiversity and contributing to the conservation and understanding of UK species.

The Sanger Institute will lead the UK efforts of the EBP and its partners. He plans to sequence the 66,000 species of eukaryotes in the British Isles, as part of a new project called Darwin Tree of Life Project. Sanger is committed to creating a new research program, the Tree of Life program, to fulfill this mission and will work alongside partners at the Natural History Museum, London, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Earlham Institute. , at EMBL-EBI and at Edinburgh Genomics. at the University of Edinburgh. The EBP will help coordinate this effort with other affiliated projects to reduce redundancies and optimize resources.

"Globally, more than half of the vertebrate population has gone extinct in the last 40 years and 23,000 species are threatened with extinction in the near future.Using the biological information we will get genomes of all eukaryotic species, to our responsibilities as guardians of life on this planet, we are living life on Earth in a more enlightened way by using these genomes, at a time when nature is under considerable pressure, particularly from we, "says Professor Sir Mike Stratton, director of the Wellcome Sanger Institute.

"When the human genome project was launched 25 years ago, we could not imagine how the DNA sequence produced at the time would turn research into health and human disease." Engage in a mission to sequence all life on Earth is no different from nature, understand how to develop new treatments for infectious diseases, identify drugs to slow down aging, create new approaches to feed the disease. or create new biomaterials, "says Sir Jim Smith, Wellcome's Director of Science.

Explore further:
25 genomes of British species sequenced for the first time

More information:
For more information on the Vertebrate Genome Project, visit: vertebrategenomesproject.org/