Earth BioGenome Project Begins Genome Sequencing in Earnest
Published:18 Jan.2022 Source:University of California - Davis
A global effort to map the genomes of all plants, animals, fungi and other microbial life on Earth, is entering a new phase as it moves from pilot projects to full-scale production sequencing. This new phase of the The Earth BioGenome Project, or EBP, is marked with a collection of papers published this week (Jan. 17) in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, describing the project's goals, achievements to date and next steps.
"The special feature on the EBP captures the essence and excitement of the largest-scale coordinated effort in the history of biology," said Harris Lewin, chair of the EBP Working Group and Distinguished Professor of Evolution and Ecology at the University of California, Davis. "From fundamental science to breakthrough applications across a wide range of pressing global problems, such as preventing biodiversity loss and adapting food crops to climate change, the EBP's progress in sequencing eukaryotic life is humbling and inspiring. Achieving the ultimate goal of sequencing all eukaryotic life now seems within our reach."