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Imagine, then, how many discoveries and advances remain to be unlocked within the genomes of all the other organisms of planet Earth.\n\nThe [Earth BioGenome Project](https://www.earthbiogenome.org/) aims to change biology forever by unveiling the genomes of all described eukaryotic species — that is, all animals and plants, as well as protists (single-celled organisms) and fungi — within 10 years.[1](/citation/2025-05-ic-1-1/),[2](/citation/2025-05-ic-1-2/) The Earth BioGenome Project will be transformational, changing how we analyse the characteristics of species and the ways they interact, as well as their capacity to adapt to rapid ecological change. This is not a fanciful proposition — on the contrary, its foundations have already been laid through efforts to  democratise access to genome-sequencing tools and techniques.\n\nThe [Tree of Life Programme](https://www.sanger.ac.uk/programme/tree-of-life/) was launched at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridgeshire, UK, and is a major contributor to the Earth BioGenome Project. Our Tree of Life has started close to home with the [Darwin Tree of Life](https://www.darwintreeoflife.org/) project, where we have already sequenced more than 2000 species found in the UK and Ireland. Having honed our tools, built collaborations and developed new methods to overcome technical challenges, we are also supporting the spread of knowledge and training into new regions harbouring high-density biodiversity that are eager to become sequencing hotspots. We are talking to colleagues in the Caribbean and in Guyana, and working with the [African BioGenome Project](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://africanbiogenome.org/&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1756398543492743&usg=AOvVaw3cwxqutnXGrfixqqO8dWDh) as they initiate projects across the continent.  Such projects have the potential to generate scientific knowledge and economic value in which local communities must rightfully have a stake. \n\nWe are developing toolkits and protocols by working with our local biodiversity, and making these available to the world once proven. Our approach is “sequence locally, think globally.” Our system has been remarkably successful: our projects currently deliver about half of all the reference genomes produced anywhere in the world, and should total around 3400 genomes by the end of 2025. The number of described eukaryotic species is around 1.6 million, so there is a long way to go. However, with advancing technologies and joint effort from additional projects under the EBP umbrella, this figure is not as far off as it might first appear.\n\nWe are already beginning to use AI tools to help us, for instance in checking that the fragments that make up a genome have been assembled in the right order. In the past few years there have been significant advances in the sequencing instruments themselves. In the future, we expect to be able to sequence a genome using a mobile phone or whatever device people will then be carrying around. Sequencing is continuously becoming faster and more affordable. One of the exciting applications of cheaper, faster sequencing is the ability to explore the species present in an area through what is known as environmental DNA or “eDNA”. Air, water and soil can be sequenced and species can be detected as having recently been present through bits of DNA they leave behind. However, to truly realise the possibilities that eDNA offers, such as invasive pest detection through air-filter sequencing at national borders, we need the library of all genomes to be able to match each eDNA molecule to the organism it came from. The faster we can complete the reference genomes of all species, the sooner eDNA monitoring will become a widespread approach that is broadly useful to conservation, food security, pandemic surveillance and beyond.\n\nOne of the questions that comprehensive reference genomes can answer is this: how does a blind process like evolution “invent” something? That is key to advances in synthetic biology, biotechnology and medicine. For example, there are lots of organisms out there that make venom, which then interferes with the immune system or nervous system — we would call these pharmaceuticals if we had invented them ourselves. A bee sting contains lots of chemicals that hurt but also others that numb. In fact, every venomous animal offers a whole inventory of biologically active molecules: anti-inflammatories, painkillers, immune suppressants and more, all of them with potential for medical use by humans.\n\nGenomes for all Earth’s species will help us to realise those medical applications — for example, by providing critical input to AI-powered research systems like [Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold system](https://deepmind.google/science/alphafold/), which advances biological research in any number of ways by using AI to work out the likely structure of protein molecules. Or, as another example, the [Generative and Synthetic Genomics programme](https://www.sanger.ac.uk/programme/generative-and-synthetic-genomics/) at the Wellcome Sanger Institute seeks to understand how particular DNA sequences drive the expression of specific genes. Comparing the genomes of different species will help us to pin down these genetic “switches”, offering us much more control over modified or synthetic genomes.\n\nThe most exciting possibilities, however, are not the ones we can already see, but the ones that will only become apparent once this massive genomic resource exists — and the faster these emerging opportunities become apparent, the more quickly we can translate this new information into transformational knowledge across a range of scientific fields and applications (see figure). The good news is that it would be quite easy to scale up our operations to meet these objectives. Our current target, in Phase One of the Earth BioGenome Project, is to complete 10,000 genomes. Phase Two aims for 150,000 genomes: with additional centres it could produce 1000 genomes a year, thus reaching that target in just a few years.\n\nThose additional centres, each costing about £5 million, should be based in some of the most biodiverse hotspots around the world. Our own [Darwin Tree of Life](https://www.darwintreeoflife.org/) project is very locally based and nationally focused. National and commercial interest can provide valuable incentives to complete the work, as long as the data is publicly available and remuneration flows back to the centres.\n\nSovereignty and ownership of digital sequence information is the final piece of the puzzle: fortunately, there are good options here. One is that those who actually do the work of producing a sequence could submit it to one or more international databases and immediately get benefits back, in the form of some sort of credit for building the local bioeconomy or for conservation. It would be possible to implement a system in which the users of genomic data pay in advance into a fund which then pays out to those who are producing the data. \n\nAt the Wellcome Sanger Institute we have a group of academics working in a partnership with the private sector called [Open Targets](https://www.opentargets.org/).  This group is funded to identify and develop drug targets via discovery research. The companies decide what sort of things they’re interested in funding: finding new targets or drug candidates, for example. Sanger researchers do the basic genomic research on potential drug targets, and the pharma companies get an early look at areas of commercial interest to them. A similar model might be applied to “Open Genomes”, in which companies fund research into areas of specific interest — perhaps venomous species — so that these are sequenced as soon as possible. \n\nSequencing centres for the Earth BioGenome Project around the world could serve just this purpose, sequencing local biodiversity and building reference genomes for species that are interesting to biotech companies, as well as contributing to the global scientific commons. This kind of system would foster autonomous indigenous bioeconomies in biodiversity hotspots. We will need international organisations to run such a system, however, and the importance and urgency of this need is reflected in its inclusion on the agenda of the November 2025 COP30 meeting in Belém, Brazil. Diplomacy also has a job to do in raising awareness of genomics. International biodiversity conventions and assessments don’t usually mention the genetic diversity of the species we’re trying to conserve. That needs to change.\n\nThe final hurdle is, of course, funding. The first single human genome cost around $3 billion. Advances in technology mean that we can now sequence individual genomes for a cost in the low thousands of dollars, and that will drop still further. Right now, it is eminently conceivable that sequencing every eukaryotic species on the planet won’t cost much more than the price tag for that first human genome sequence — perhaps $4 billion. And as with that first human reference genome, the rewards will be immeasurable."},"titleRich":{"id":"68b6f8e1f16db0c877ddb748_titleRich","text":""},"subtitleRich":{"id":"68b6f8e1f16db0c877ddb748_subtitleRich","text":""},"openGraph":{"title":null,"description":{"plain":"Mark Blaxter, Head of the Tree of Life Programme and Senior Group Leader at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridgeshire, UK. \nMara Lawniczak, Senior Group Leader in the Tree of Life Programme at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.\n"},"image":null},"parent":{"id":"6a9362ba34307dba8bf55024","name":"Publications","path":"/publications"},"typeLabel":"Invited Contribution","type":{"name":"Invited Contribution","slug":"invited-contribution"},"types":[{"name":"Invited Contribution","slug":"invited-contribution"}],"intro":{"text":"**Mark Blaxter**, Head of the Tree of Life Programme and Senior Group Leader at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridgeshire, UK. \n\n**Mara Lawniczak**, Senior Group Leader in the Tree of Life Programme at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.\n"},"orderNumber":null,"files":[],"family":[{"id":"68b6f8e1f16db0c877ddb748","name":"Using Reference Genomes to Decode Earth’s Biodiversity","slug":"using-reference-genomes-to-decode-earths-biodiversity","path":"/publications/using-reference-genomes-to-decode-earths-biodiversity","subtitle":null}],"moderators":[],"authors":[{"__typename":"Platform_Person","id":"6891b8117139278031820b5d","name":"Mark Blaxter","slug":"mark-blaxter","position":"Programme Lead for the Tree of Life Programme / Senior Group Leader","path":"/people/mark-blaxter","photo":{"id":"image_gesda-platform/person/mark-blaxter_photo__Mark_Blaxter_qgkyml","url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1754380292/gesda-platform/person/mark-blaxter_photo__Mark_Blaxter_qgkyml.webp","url2x":null},"organisation":{"id":"66fee033e66556e3da6cdb52","name":"Wellcome Sanger Institute (WT)","slug":"wellcome-sanger-institute-wt"}},{"__typename":"Platform_Person","id":"6891bd377139278031820b6d","name":"Mara Lawniczak","slug":"mara-lawniczak","position":"Senior Group Leader","path":"/people/mara-lawniczak","photo":{"id":"image_gesda-platform/person/mara-lawniczak_photo__Mara_Lawniczak_gmwtqo","url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1754381607/gesda-platform/person/mara-lawniczak_photo__Mara_Lawniczak_gmwtqo.webp","url2x":null},"organisation":{"id":"66fee033e66556e3da6cdb52","name":"Wellcome Sanger Institute (WT)","slug":"wellcome-sanger-institute-wt"}}],"people":[],"layout":{"id":"65c55d189e947c438698b059","name":"Invited Contribution","slug":"invited-contribution","component":"PageLayoutInvitedContribution"},"videos":[],"trend":null,"connectedTrends":[],"connectedTopics":[],"connectedSubTopics":[],"topics":[],"events":[],"embeds":{"citations":[{"slug":"2025-05-ic-1-1","url":"https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1720115115","name":"Earth BioGenome Project: Sequencing life for the future of life","authors":[{"id":"691a7a63c0043bba84a9eb3b","name":"H.A. 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tank.\n"},"image":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1760413449/gesda-platform/site/gesda-radar-website_thumbnail__Screenshot_2025-10-14_at_11.42.59_o2cgxm.png","type":"image/png","thumbnails":{"full":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1760413449/gesda-platform/site/gesda-radar-website_thumbnail__Screenshot_2025-10-14_at_11.42.59_o2cgxm.png"}}}},"termsAndConditions":{"text":""},"privacyPolicy":{"text":"At the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (hereafter referred to as ‘GESDA’), we respect your privacy. We want to ensure that you get the information, content, and experiences that matter most to you. GESDA is committed to protecting the privacy of its stakeholders, communities, and other contacts.\n\n## Scope\n\nThis privacy policy applies to all personal data processed by full-time and part-time employees, volunteers when acting on behalf of GESDA, contractors and partners doing business on behalf of GESDA, as well as all legal entities, all operating locations in all countries, and all business processes conducted by GESDA.\n\n## Information Collected\n\n#### What information do we collect?\n\nGESDA collects the following personal data in line with the use purposes explained in a subsequent section:\n\n  * Your name and contact details\n  * Online profile data/usage\n  * Contact information\n  * Social media profile information\n  * Education and professional information\n  * Registration and participation in GESDA events and activities - Information about service usage\n  * Cookies\n  * Authentication data\n  * Location information\n  * Author and peer review information\n  * Other information you upload or provide to us\n\n#### How do we use your information?\n\nGESDA uses (and, where specified, shares) your personal information for the following purposes:\n\n  * To provide support or other services. GESDA may use your personal information to provide you with support or other services that you have ordered or requested. GESDA may also use your personal information to respond directly to your requests for information, including registrations for webinars, or other specific requests, or pass your contact information to the appropriate GESDA supplier or reseller for further follow-up related to your interests.\n  * To provide information based on your needs and respond to your requests. GESDA may use your personal information to provide you with notices of new product releases and service developments.\n  * To administer products. GESDA may contact you if you make use of (digital) products we offer, to confirm certain information (for example, that you did not experience problems in a download process). We may also use this information to confirm compliance with licensing and other terms of use and may share it with your company/institution.\n  * To assist in your participation in GESDA activities. GESDA will communicate with you, if you are participating in certain GESDA activities such as the GESDA Summit, authoring or reviewing a GESDA article, or GESDA humanitarian activities. GESDA may send you information such as update messages related to those activities (such as but not limited to the event's content, and event logistics)\n  * To update you on relevant GESDA events and opportunities. GESDA may communicate with you regarding relevant GESDA events and opportunities.\n  * To protect GESDA content and services. We may use your information to prevent potentially illegal activities and to enforce our terms and conditions.\n  * To get feedback or input from you. In order to deliver products and services of most interest to our stakeholders, from time to time, we may ask you to provide us input and feedback (for example through surveys).\n\n#### How can you control your information?\n\nYou can control the information we have about you and how we use as follows:\n\n  * If you are a registered guest for the GESDA Annual Summit 2021, any request for review, revise or correction of your personal data can be sent to summit@global.gesda specifying your request.\n\n#### Personal data about minors and children\n\nGESDA does not knowingly collect data from or about children under 16 without the permission of parent(s)/guardian(s). If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 16, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have any information from or about a child under age 16, please contact us.\n\n#### How will you know if the Privacy Policy is changed?\n\nGESDA may update its Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make any material changes you will be notified by means of a notice on our website prior on the date the change becomes effective. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices.\n\n## Technical And Regulatory Information\n\n#### Logging practices\n\nGESDA automatically records the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of visitors. The IP address is a unique number assigned to every computer on the internet. Generally, an IP address changes each time you connect to the internet (it is a \"dynamic\" address). Note, however, that if you have a broadband connection, depending on your individual circumstance, the IP address that we collect may contain information that could be deemed identifiable. This is because, with some broadband connections, your IP address doesn't change (it is \"static\") and could be associated with your personal computer.\n\nAs well as recording the IP addresses of users, GESDA may also keep track of sites that users visited immediately prior to visiting GESDA's website and the search terms they used to find it. We keep track of the pages visited on GESDA's website, the amount of time spent on those pages and the types of searches done on them. Your searches remain confidential and anonymous. GESDA uses this information only for statistical purposes to find out which pages users find most useful and to improve the website.\nGESDA also captures and stores information that you transmit. This may include:\n\n  * Browser/Device type/version\n  * Operating system used\n  * Media Access Control (MAC) address\n  * Date and time of the server request\n  * Volume of data transferred\n\n#### External links behaviour\n\nSome of the links on GESDA's websites link to other sites created and maintained by other public- and/or private-sector organizations. GESDA provides these links solely for your information and convenience. When you transfer to an outside website, you are leaving the GESDA domain, and GESDA's information management policies no longer apply. GESDA encourages you to read the privacy statement of each external website that you visit before you provide any personal data.\n\n#### Cookies and web beacons\n\nCookies and web beacons are electronic placeholders that are placed on your device by websites to track your individual movements on that website over time. GESDA uses both session-based cookies (which last only for the duration of the user's session) and persistent cookies (which remain on your device and provide information about the session you are in and waits for the next time you use that site again).\n\nThese cookies and web beacons provide useful information to GESDA, enabling us to recognize repeat users, facilitate the user's access to and use of our sites, allows us to track usage behavior, and to balance the usage of our websites on all GESDA web servers.\nTracking cookies, third-party cookies, and other technologies such as web beacons may be used to process additional information, enable non-core functionalities on the GESDA website and enable third-party functions (such as a social media \"share\" link). We may also include web beacons and other similar technology in promotional email messages to determine whether the messages have been opened.\n\n#### Do Not Track (DNT)\n\nThe online advertising industry has self-regulatory initiatives designed to provide consumers a choice in the types of ads they may see online and to conveniently opt-out from online behavioral ads served by some or all of the companies participating in these programs. Our websites do not respond to DNT consumer browser settings.\n\n#### Responses to legal requests\n\nGESDA reserves the right to share your information to respond to duly authorized information requests of governmental authorities or where required by law.\n\n#### Your data rights\n\nGESDA complies with all applicable data privacy laws and regulations including, but not limited to, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Under these laws and regulations, you may have certain rights to your data. Should you wish to exercise any of these rights, please send an email request to info@gesda.global with \"Data Privacy Request'' in the subject line and in the email please identify the specific privacy right you request assistance with. Please note additional information may be requested prior to fulfilling a request and that GESDA reserves the right to charge a fee, where permitted, to cover the cost of certain requests.\n\n#### How do I contact you if there is an issue?\nIf you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or about the use of your personal information, please feel free to contact us by email at info@gesda.global\n\n#### Contact Information\nGeneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) c/o Fondation Campus Biotech\nChemin des Mines 9\n1202 Geneva\n+41 58 201 02 61\ninfo@gesda.global\n"},"welcomeUrl":"https://radar.gesda.global/app/welcome","welcomeTitle":"Welcome to GESDA Radar and thanks for joining us! 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