The Earth BioGenome Project (EBP) is an initiative that aims to sequence and catalog the

genome In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding g ...

s of all of Earth's currently described

eukaryotic Eukaryotes () are organisms whose Cell (biology), cells have a cell nucleus, nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the ...

species over a period of ten years. The initiative would produce an open

DNA database A DNA database or DNA databank is a database of DNA profiles which can be used in the analysis of genetic diseases, genetic fingerprinting for criminology, or genetic genealogy. DNA databases may be public or private, the largest ones being nat ...

of biological information that provides a platform for scientific research and supports environmental and conservation initiatives. A scientific paper presenting the vision for the project was published in '' PNAS'' in April 2018, and the project officially launched November 1, 2018.

History

The initiative was inspired by Human Genome Project, and emerged during November 2015 meeting between Harris Lewin ( UCD),

Gene E. Robinson Gene Ezia Robinson (born January 9, 1955) is an American entomologist, Director of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology and National Academy of Sciences member. He pioneered the application of genomics to the study of social behavior ...

( IGB) and W. John Kress (

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...

). In February 2017, at major conference on genomics and biodiversity organized by the Smithsonian Institution and BGI in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

was supported project's 10-year plan and organizational structure.

Summary

The project is projected to cost US$4.7 billion. It includes already ongoing projects such as i5K (insects), B10K (birds), 10KP (plants), and the Darwin Tree of Life, which aim to sequence the estimated 66,000 eukaryotic species in the United Kingdom. The project is aiming to sequence and annotate the roughly 1.5 million known eukaryotic species in three phases, with first to create "annotated chromosome-scale reference assemblies for at least one representative species of each of the ~9,000 eukaryotic taxonomic families". According to ''PNAS'' paper, several sequencing centers are supporting the project, including BGI (China),

Baylor College of Medicine Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a medical school and research center in Houston, Texas, within the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical center. BCM is composed of four academic components: the School of Medicine, the Graduate S ...

(USA),

Wellcome Sanger Institute The Wellcome Sanger Institute, previously known as The Sanger Centre and Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, is a non-profit British genomics and genetics research institute, primarily funded by the Wellcome Trust. It is located on the Wellcome ...

(UK), Rockefeller University (US), with an additional center to be established for the project in South America by

São Paulo Research Foundation The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, pt, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo) is a public foundation located in São Paulo, Brazil, with the aim of providing grants, funds and programs to support research, education a ...

. As for bio-observatories which use genomics, examples which meet the project needs are National Ecological Observatory Network, Chinese Ecological Research Network, ForestGEO, and MarineGEO. To provide insight into the feasibility and technical requirements for "planetary scale" projects such as this, the 10,000 Plant Genome Project has published a pilot "Digitalization of Ruili Botanical Garden" project sampling and sequencing 761 vascular plant specimens growing in a

Botanical Garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

in South West China.

References

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External links

Earth BioGenome Project Website
*
The Insect 5,000 Genomes (i5k) Project Website
*
The Bird 10,000 Genomes (B10K) Project Website
*
The Darwin Tree of Life Website
*
The European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) Website
Genome projects Biobank organizations

History

Summary

See also

References

External links