Scientists from all across the world are racing to document the genetic blueprints of every known species on Earth. An estimated one million plant and animal species are in danger of being extinct in the next decades, according to the United Nations.
The researcher Joanna Harley told the CBS News correspondent Roxana Saberi, “This is an absolute emergency.” “It is essential to safeguard species on the world. They share with us and sustain us, and the more we deplete the planet, the less there will be.”
Approximately 5,000 scientists from around the world participate in the Earth BioGenome Project. Over the next decade, teams will digitize the DNA of the 1,800,000 recognized species of plants, animals, fungi, and single-celled eukaryotes. By 2022’s end, scientists intend to sequence 3,000 genomes.
Scientists from around the globe are working to digitize the DNA of the earth’s 1,8 million identified species. The Tree-of-Life Project
By sequencing the DNA of life on Earth, researchers want to improve human welfare, safeguard biodiversity, and gain a deeper knowledge of ecosystems.
Mark Blaxter, who leads a group working on the Earth BioGenome Project, told Saberi, “Everything is interrelated.” “We need the services that these plants, animals, and fungus provide for us, so by gaining an understanding of how they do it, we can also assist people.”
The genetic blueprints of almost 400 out of the country’s 70,000 recognized species have been documented by British experts to date.
Beginning the arduous process are researchers like Harley who aid in the quest for species. The gathered specimens are then sorted prior to shipment to sequencing laboratories. Next, the data is shared online.
“We’ll be able to determine whether a species is endangered or not, and we’ll know what to do to preserve it,” Blaxter added.
The experts said that deciphering DNA won’t save endangered plants and animals on its own, but it can be useful as more species approach extinction.