Project to decode the "complex life" on Earth

Copyright of the image
Getty Images

An international team has launched a mission to sequence the genome of all known animals, plants, fungi and unicellular organisms known as protozoa.

The Earth BioGenome project (EBP) has been described as a "gun shot for biology".

A key objective is to use information in conservation efforts for endangered species.

Scientists say clues about how species adapt to changing environments could be hidden in their DNA code.

What are the goals of this genome sequencing effort?

The goal is to create an entirely new inventory of life on planet Earth by reading the genetic code of each organism belonging to a vast group called eukaryotes – essentially species composed of multiple cells whose DNA is linked to a nucleus.

As pointed out Professor Harris Lewin of the University of California, Davis, chairman of the project, "only about 3,300 of the 1.5 million known species have had their genome sequenced".

"The gaps in our knowledge are much greater than we know," he told BBC News. "So, we do not even complete the pieces of the puzzle, most of the puzzle is empty."

Professor Lewin stated that the ambitions of this project were threefold:

1. Basic science: The genomes will constitute an inventory of knowledge on the biology of life on the planet.
2. Preservation: To protect endangered species from threats such as climate change, scientists want to understand the genetic code that underpins their adaptations to their environment. Species of special interest for conservation, such as the Golden Eagle, have already been targeted for genome sequencing.
3. Human well-being: Identifying the code for "useful traits" could reveal, for example, what medicinal properties are incorporated into the DNA of a plant.

How much will it cost?

EBP is expected to cost $ 5 billion (£ 4 billion) – the equivalent of the price of the first human genome sequence, completed in 2003.

The Wellcome Sanger Institute in Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, will lead the UK's contribution to the EBP program.

Sanger's Julia Wilson told the BBC that the value of the project to society would be immense, laying "a foundation for all areas of biology and biotechnology".

"We are talking about new drugs, new fuels for the future," she said. "Our imagination limits us for the moment, we can not even imagine what it would tell us."