Once thought a fantasy, effort to sequence DNA of millions of species gains momentum

Photo caption: The challenges of collecting species, such as butterflies in Finland, for sequencing forced the Earth BioGenome Project to scale down its goals. Photo credit: Niina Kiljunen. Article by Elizabeth Pennisi. Science – November 5, 2024.

Six years ago this month, scientists launched a massively ambitious effort to sequence the genomes of some 1.67 million plants, animals, fungi, and other microbes—essentially all known eukaryotes, or species with complex cells. It would cost an estimated $4.7 billion and take 10 years, but its leaders argued that having so many full DNA sequences would clarify life’s evolution, help with conservation, improve agriculture, and even aid human health. […]

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