【原】地球基因組計劃——下一個登月計劃

Amber看世界 2021-05-21

展開全文

In the first attempt of its kind, researchers plan to sequence all known species of eukaryotic life—66,000 species of animals, plants, fungi, and protozoa—in a single country, the United Kingdom.

在這類研究的首次嘗試中，研究人員計劃對英國這個國家內(nèi)的已知的所有真核生物——66000種動物,、植物,、真菌和原生動物——進行測序。

The announcement was made here today at the official launch of an even grander $4.7 billion global effort, called the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP), to sequence the genomes of all of Earth’s known 1.5 million species of eukaryotes within a decade.

這項宣布是今天在規(guī)模更大的地球生物基因組計劃(EBP)的官方啟動儀式上宣布的,，該計劃耗資47億美元,，名為“地球生物基因組計劃”(Earth BioGenome Project, EBP)，將在10年內(nèi)對地球上已知的150萬種真核生物的基因組進行測序,。

“We feel it is the next moonshot for biology,” says EBP project chair Harris Lewin, a genomicist at the University of California, Davis.

“我們認為這是生物學的下一個登月計劃,，”加州大學戴維斯分校的基因?qū)W家、EBP項目主席哈里斯·列文說,。

Researchers say the genomes will provide multiple benefits, including new insights into the evolution, assisting in biodiversity conservation, and benefiting agriculture and medicine.

研究人員說,，這些基因組將提供多種益處，包括對進化的新見解,、協(xié)助生物多樣性保護以及造福農(nóng)業(yè)和醫(yī)藥,。

In terms of genomes sequenced, the eukaryotes—the branch of complex life consisting of organisms with cells that have a nucleus inside a membrane—lag far behind the bacteria and archaea.

就基因組測序而言，真核生物——復雜生命的一個分支,，由在膜內(nèi)有細胞核的生物體組成——遠遠落后于細菌和古生菌,。

Researchers have sequenced just about 3500 eukaryotic genomes, and only 100 at high quality.

研究人員只測序了3500個真核基因組，只有100個是高質(zhì)量的,。

In 2015, EBP’s founders hatched the idea to massively expand these numbers.

2015年,，EBP的創(chuàng)始人萌生了大規(guī)模擴大這些數(shù)字的想法。

“This was an effort that bubbled up from scientists wanting to know more about how the world works,” says John Kress of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., a co-chair of the project’s working group.

華盛頓特區(qū)史密森學會國家自然歷史博物館的約翰·克雷斯說:“這些努力是源于科學家們想要知道更多關于世界是如何運作的,，”他是該項目工作組的聯(lián)合主席,。

Lewin says the partners now have about a third of the funding on hand to complete the first phase of the EBP project. This phase, which will include sequencing genomes of one species from each of 9000 taxonomic families, should cost about $600 million over 3 years.

列文說,，合作伙伴現(xiàn)在手頭有大約三分之一的資金來完成EBP項目的第一階段。這一階段將包括9000個分類學家族中每個物種的基因組測序,，在3年的時間內(nèi)將花費大約6億美元,。

Lewin expects the rest of the funding for the first phase will be secured within a year. In years 4 to 7, genomes would be sequenced from representatives of each genus, followed by the remainder of the species.

盧因預計第一階段的剩余資金將在一年內(nèi)到位。在第4年至第7年,，將對每個屬的代表進行基因組測序,，然后是該物種的其余部分。

“Now, our task is to persuade the National Science Foundation—and a lot of others—that the Earth BioGenome Project will be the next moonshot,” Kress says.

克雷斯說:“現(xiàn)在,，我們的任務是說服國家科學基金會和其他許多機構(gòu)相信,，地球生物基因組計劃將是下一個登月計劃?！?/p>