Genome researchers celebrate success of pilot project
The white-tailed eagle is one of the species for which the project has created a reference genome.
A pilot project that brought together scientists from across 33 countries has successfully produced reference genomes for 98 European species.
The genomes will be available for anyone around the world to study and will help researchers working in areas such as veterinary science, biosecurity and conservation.
Among the species sequenced was the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla). The reference genome will allow researchers to look at genetic disorders in the species, including pinching-off syndrome in which the flight and control feathers of young white-tailed eagles are malformed and so prevent them from flying.
The pilot project was launched in 2021 by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research and the Berlin Center for Genomics in Biodiversity Research.
The genomes sequenced will form part of the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA). The atlas is the European section of the Earth BioGenome Project, which aims to make the genomes of all known animals, plants and fungi available to researchers around the world.
The initial pilot project of 98 species allowed those involved to identify and address some of the challenges which can arise in an international project of this kind.
These challenges included shipping biological samples between countries, dealing with disparities in resources between countries, and balancing decentralisation with the need for standardisation.
Giulio Formenti, a member of the ERGA Pilot Committee, said: “ERGA was all a dream, until it wasn't. Through this pilot project the prospect of uniting Europe under the flag of biodiversity genomics is now reality.
“We can be proud to have first established the process by which the genomes of many species will become available to the scientific community for conservation and beyond.”
A paper on the pilot project has been published in the journal npj Biodiversity.
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