A library of all life on Earth

or an inventory of every living eukaryote's genome.

Source: https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/earth-biogenome-project-aims-sequence-dna-all-complex-life/

The Earth BioGenome Project was launched on 1st November 2018 in London, UK. The aim is to sequence the genome of all complex life on earth, i.e. animals, plants, fungi and protozoans that consist of eukaryotic cells - cells with a double membrane nucleus and organelles. (1)

The goals are: (2)

1. protecting biodiversity by reading the DNA code especially of endagered species,

2. come up with new treaments for infectuous or inherited diseases, create new biological synthetic fuels and even invent anti-aging drugs; all of this by anaysing the genetic codes and find useful traits that these organisms use adapt to environmental change.

3. and undersanding ecosystems.

There are app. 2.3 million known and 10 to 15 million eukaryote species that we have yet to discover. To date, less that 15 000 species (mostly microbes) have been sequenced. The team wants to accomplish this in the time period of 10 years and the estimated cost of the project is $ 4.7 billion. (3)

References:

1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46046494

2. https://www.earthbiogenome.org/goals/

3. http://www.pnas.org/content/115/17/4325