The most comprehensive study of evolution ever was proposed this past April at a three-day meeting at UCSC.
The most comprehensive study of evolution ever was proposed this past April at a three-day meeting at UCSC. The goal is to establish a “vertebrate zoo” with 10,000 vertebrates—about one sample for every known genus. But this will be nothing like the San Diego zoo or a local petting zoo. Instead of live animals, it will have genome sequences, gathered from museums and zoos around the world. With this information, it is hoped to sequence the complete genetic history of each of the species.
The initiative, known as the Genome 10K Project, was conceived by three scientists in a paper to be published by the Journal of Heredity. One of the authors, David Haussler, is a professor of biomolecular engineering at UCSC. “We can now contemplate reading the genetic heritage of all species, beginning with vertebrates,” he said. “We hope to learn how the elephant got its trunk, how the leopard got its spots.”
Sydney Brenner of the Salk Institute and a 2002 Nobel Laureate said that the project will help resolve the most challenging problem facing biologists: “What is our biological past?” According to him, “Genomes are molecular fossils.” But the study will also have contemporary implications. By analyzing genes, including the genes of extinct vertebrae, scientists will be able to predict how endangered species would respond to a variety of factors including climate change, invasive species, and disease. This could then be used to help conservation efforts. “The risk of extinction is lessened for species for which we have a genome sequence,” says Oliver A. Ryder, another co-author of the paper and director of genetics at the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research.
As of now, the biggest problem facing the project is money. It currently costs between $50,000 and $100,000 to sequence a genome, but with recent advances in biology, the price is dropping quickly. Haussler says that once it hits $3,000, “We’ll be good to go.” And then Santa Cruz will have the biggest zoo in the world.
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