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Cited by 562Genomics and Phylogenetic StudiesEnvironmental DNA in Biodiversity StudiesResearch Data Management Practices

Sequence locally, think globally: the Darwin Tree of Life Project

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The Darwin Tree of Life Project Consortium, Blaxter, Mark, Mieszkowska, Nova, Di Palma, Federica, Holland, Peter, Durbin, Richard, Richards, Thomas, Berriman, Matthew +12 more·2022·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI 10.1073/pnas.2115642118PMC PMC8797607
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Abstract

The goals of the Earth Biogenome Project—to sequence the genomes of all eukaryotic life on earth—are as daunting as they are ambitious. The Darwin Tree of Life Project was founded to demonstrate the credibility of these goals and to deliver at-scale genome sequences of unprecedented quality for a biogeographic region: the archipelago of islands that constitute Britain and Ireland. The Darwin Tree of Life Project is a collaboration between biodiversity organizations (museums, botanical gardens, and biodiversity institutes) and genomics institutes. Together, we have built a workflow that collects specimens from the field, robustly identifies them, performs sequencing, generates high-quality, curated assemblies, and releases these openly for the global community to use to build future science and conservation efforts.

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  • Thousands of newly sequenced chromosome-scale genomes are rapidly filling phylogenetic gaps of animal diversity.

    “thousands of newly sequenced chromosome-scale genomes are rapidly filling phylogenetic gaps of animal diversity”

    From Topological Approaches in Animal Comparative Genomics (2026) · cites this paper as [2]

    The ‘Open Data, Current Progress, and Future Prospects’ section (page not provided) reports sequencing across hundreds of taxonomic families and plans to release at least 2,000 high-quality genomes. But it reports only 200 chromosomally complete assemblies submitted by September 2021, not thousands already filling gaps in animal diversity; the project covers eukaryotes more broadly. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Genome sequencing and assembly have become increasingly affordable and computationally tractable thanks to long-read sequencing technologies, DNA proximity ligation sequencing techniques, and genome sequencing consortia.

    “Genome sequencing and assembly have become increasingly affordable and computationally tractable thanks to the development of long-read sequencing technologies like the Pacific Biosciences and Oxford Nanopore platforms (52); the development of DNA proximity ligation sequencing techniques, like Hi-C, for genome scaffolding (53–55); and the efforts of genome sequencing consortia (1, 2, 4, 56)”

    From Topological Approaches in Animal Comparative Genomics (2026) · cites this paper as [2]

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Cites

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    Self-citation

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Research works printed but not linked: 33

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Authors
The Darwin Tree of Life Project Consortium, Blaxter, M., Mieszkowska, N., Di Palma, F., Holland, P., Durbin, R., Richards, T., Berriman, M., Kersey, P., Hollingsworth, P., Wilson, W., Twyford, A., Gaya, E., Lawniczak, M., Lewis, O., Broad, G., Howe, K., Hart, M., Flicek, P., & Barnes, I.
ORCID
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Published
2022-01-18
Volume
119
Issue
4
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.2115642118
PMC
PMC8797607
OpenAlex
W4205493727
Cited by
562
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 186 · 2025: 169 · 2024: 118 · 2023: 55 · 2022: 33 · 2012: 1
FWCI
30.73
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Marine Biological Association (acceptedVersion)
  • Oxford University Research Archive (ORA) (University of Oxford) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • Natural History Museum, London (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
Wellcome (218328, 206194)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Environmental DNA in Biodiversity Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Research Data Management Practices
Keywords
Earth BioGenome Project, biodiversity genomics, museum specimens, specimen identification, genome assembly, conservation genomics
MeSH terms
Biological Evolution, Phylogeny, Selection, Genetic, Specimen Handling, Genome, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Evolution, Molecular, Genomics, Biodiversity, Eukaryota, Workflow

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