by Phoebe Weston
24 April 2018
from Mailonline Website

Scientists are hoping to create a modern-day Noah's ark

that could 'revolutionize our understanding of evolution'.

Pictured is Noah's Ark painted

by Edward Hicks (1780-1849)

Modern-day Noah's ark that will save the DNA of all complex life on Earth could 'revolutionize our understanding of evolution'

• Scientists want to store the genetic codes of all 1.5 million known species

• The library of life could be used to find out more about the evolution of species

• It could be a resource for innovations in medicine, agriculture and conservation

• Currently, less than 0.2 per cent of the Earth's species have been sequenced
   

Scientists are hoping to create a modern-day Noah's ark that could 'revolutionize our understanding of evolution'.

A group of 24 international scientists want to collect and store the genetic codes of all 1.5 million known plants, animals and fungi over the next decade.

The resulting library of life could be used by scientists to find out more about the evolution of species and how to improve our environment.

The £3.4 billion ($4.7bn) project is being described as the,

'most ambitious project in the history of modern biology'.

The Earth BioGenome Project is being led by researchers from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

They believe cataloguing the DNA of all species on Earth could be a vital resource for innovations in medicine, agriculture and conservation.

Currently, less than 0.2 per cent of the Earth's species have been sequenced.

'We will build a complete library of life that we can sample and delve into for whatever purpose,' John Kress from the Smithsonian Institution told The Times.

'We can use it for improving our environments and ourselves, and revolutionizing our understanding of the evolution of life', he said.

The first decoding of a human genome - completed in 2003 as part of the Human Genome Project - took 15 years and cost £2.15 billion ($3bn).

The project had a big impact on human medicine and experts estimate it had a financial benefit of nearly $1 trillion (£0.7 trillion) to the US economy.

The BioGenome project could provide even greater opportunities, researchers say.

'Increasing our understanding of Earth's biodiversity and responsibly stewarding its resources are among the most crucial scientific and social challenges of the new millennium', researchers wrote in the paper (Earth BioGenome Project - Sequencing Life for the Future of Life), published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers said the outcomes would,

'inform a broad range of major issues facing humanity, such as the impact of climate change on biodiversity, the conservation of endangered species and ecosystems, and the preservation and enhancement of ecosystem services.'
 

A group of 24 international scientists

want to collect and store the genetic codes

of all 1.5 million known plants, animals and fungi

over the next decade

 

There is an estimated ten to 15 million species that we still do not know about, most of which are single cell organisms and small insects in the oceans.

Extinction rates are currently one thousand times higher than if there were no humans, making the need to do the project even more pressing.

Part of the purpose of the project is to save some of the knowledge of these species that are on the verge of extinction.

'Unimaginable biological secrets are held in the genomes of the millions of known and unknown organisms on our planet,' researchers wrote.

'This 'dark matter' of biology could hold the key to unlocking the potential for sustaining planetary ecosystems on which we depend and provide life support systems for a burgeoning world population.'

Researchers believe cataloguing the DNA

of all species on Earth could be a vital resource

for innovations in medicine, agriculture

and conservation

(stock image)
 

Researchers believe cataloguing the DNA of all species on Earth could be a vital resource for innovations in medicine, agriculture and conservation (above image)

The completed project is expected to require about one exabyte (one billion gigabytes) of digital storage capacity.

'The Earth BioGenome Project will give us insight into the history and diversity of life and help us better understand how to conserve it,' said Gene E. Robinson from the University of Illinois.

'Scientists believe that by the end of the century more than half of all species will vanish from the face of the Earth, and with consequences to human life that are unknown, but are potentially catastrophic,' Harris Lewin from the University of California said.

Assembling the species will be a massive undertaking.

Scientists are in the process of partnering with institutions such as natural history museums, botanical gardens, zoos and aquaria in order to get access to as many different species as possible.