New International Project to Map Genomes of Thousands of Species

A new international project, with members from more than 50 institutions and 12 countries, will attempt to map genomes of all 66,000 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish on Earth. Scientists working with the Genome 10K effort announced the launch of the “Vertebrate Genomes Project” on September 13. The group has released the first 15 genome maps, including the Canada lynx, the kakapo, a flightless parrot native to New Zealand, the duck-billed platypus, two bat species, and the zebra finch. The scientists assert that the project could help inform future conservation efforts of endangered species and save animals from extinction. Sadye Paez, Program Director for the project, said that sequencing the genome of tens of thousands of animals could easily take 10 years but the project was an effort to “essentially communicate a library of life.” The Vertebrate Genome Project will contribute to the larger, but similar, Earth BioGenome Project, which seeks to catalog the genomes for 1.5 million species.      
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news