[ad_1]
A $ 5 billion project to map the DNA of each animal, plant and fungus
Scientists have today launched an extensive program to map the genetic code of 1.5 million complex species of life on Earth and their goal is to complete the project in l '. space of a decade.
The project is called the most ambitious proposal in the history of biology.
The EBP aims to sequence, catalog and categorize the genomes of all eukaryotic biodiversity of the Earth over a period of ten years.
Annihilated: The last northern white rhino in the world died in March this year, but scientists hope that stored DNA could be used to revive the species.
Increasing our understanding of the Earth's biodiversity and the responsible management of its resources are among the most crucial scientific and social challenges of the new millennium. These challenges require new fundamental knowledge about the organization, evolution, functions and interactions among millions of organisms on the planet.
According to Reuters, relayed by the news agency, EBP is expected to cost $ 4.7 billion and "will eventually create a new foundation for biology to promote solutions to preserve biodiversity and sustainable human societies," he said. said Harris Liuin, professor at the University of California in the United States and chairman of the EBP ".
Chicago Cubs Pick Cole Hamels and Negotiate Drew Smyly
The southpaw has a 3.74 career-high average over five seasons with the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays. Hamels and his agent, John Boggs, said they would be willing to explore a longer-term deal.
Through this project, it is possible to efficiently sequence the genomes of all known species and to use genomics to help discover the remaining 80-90% of species that are now hidden from science. In Great Britain, the red and gray squirrel genome sequences will be added to the vast new database.
Professor Sir Mike Stratton, director of the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: "More than half of the vertebrate population has been lost in the last 40 years and 23,000 species are threatened with extinction in the near future".
The total volume of biological data that will be collected should be on "exascale" – more than that accumulated by Twitter, YouTube or the whole of astronomy. Earth Biogenome is a global collaboration created to avoid duplication of research and to make all genome data interoperable and accessible to the public. The EBP will support important research efforts such as the Global Ant Genomes Alliance, which aims to sequence approximately 200 ants genomes.
In Britain, organizations such as the Natural History Museum, the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew and the Wellcome Sanger Institute have teamed up to list the 66,000 species of animals, plants, protozoa and fungi in Great Britain. -Britain. Nicknamed the Darwin Tree of Life Project, it is expected to last 10 years and cost 100 million pounds sterling.
"Having the genome of all the organisms with which we share the planet will change our ability to understand and care for them," said biologist Mark Blaxter of Edinburgh Genomics and the University of Toronto. Edinburgh in a statement. Scientists also hope that the removal of the plant genetic code could lead to new treatments for infectious diseases, slow down aging, improve crops and agriculture, and create new biomaterials. Wellcome Sanger Institute biologist Jim Smith said in a statement: "We could not imagine how the DNA sequence produced at the time would turn research into disease and human illness today."
[ad_2]
Source link
