Genome Mapping

Original article by Associated Press, adapted by Newsela staff. Published:10/01/2018

A group of scientists is mapping the genes of tens of thousands of animal species. They just revealed the first results of the project. The project could help to save animals from extinction in the future, they said.

The scientists are working with a group called Genome 10,000 on the Vertebrate Genomes Project. A genome is the entire set of genetic material that is present in a living thing. A genome is made up of DNA. The DNA contains the instructions for how each part of the body works and is passed on from parents to children.

The project seeks to map the genomes of all 66,000 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish on Earth. Genome 10,000 has members at more than 50 institutions around the world. It started the Vertebrate Genomes Project last year.

Cataloging Species For The Future

Genome 10,000 released the first 15 gene maps on September 13. The animals range from Canada's lynx to the kakapo, a flightless parrot native to New Zealand.

Harris Lewin is a professor of evolution at University of California, Davis, who is working on the project. He studies how animals have changed over many, many years. The release of the first maps is a statement to the world that what the scientists want to accomplish is indeed possible, he said.

The work will help to guide future conservation of endangered species, scientists working on the project said. The first 14 species to be mapped also include the duck-billed platypus, two bat species and the zebra finch. The zebra finch was the one species for which both the male and female genomes were mapped, bringing the total to 15.

Sadye Paez is a leader on the project. Sequencing the genome of tens of thousands of animals could easily take 10 years, she said. Even so, giving scientists access to this kind of information could help to save rare species because it would give conservationists and biologists a new set of tools, she said.

Paez described the project as an effort to create a "library of life."

Scientists Will Be Able To Better Plan For The Animals

Tanya Lama is an expert on environmental conservation at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She coordinated the effort to discover the lynx genome. The wildcat is the subject of debate about how endangered it really is in the United States, and a better understanding of genetics can better protect its future, Lama said.

"It's going to help us plan for the future," she said. It can help to create tools for monitoring population health, and help scientists develop a conservation plan, she said.

The project has three "genome sequencing hubs." They include Rockefeller University in New York, the Sanger Institute outside Cambridge, England, and the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany, organizers said.

A Genetic Health Chart

Mollie Matteson is a senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity in Arizona who is not involved in the project. The work is interesting because it could have an impact on future conservation efforts of endangered species, she said. More information about animals' genetics could lead to a better understanding of how animals resist disease or adapt to changes in the environment, she said.

Matteson says the research could teach us more about the genetic variation of individual animals within a species. This knowledge could prove to be very helpful for conservation.

The project has similarities with the Earth BioGenome Project, which seeks to catalog the genomes for 1.5 million species. Lewin works on that project as well. The Vertebrate Genomes Project will contribute to that effort.

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