Vertebrate Genomes Project
The Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP) is a project which aims to generate high-quality, complete reference genomes of all 66,000 vertebrate species. It is an international cooperation project with members from more than 50 separate institutions and was launched in February 2017.[1][2][3][4][5]
In October 2021, VGP partnered with Colossal Biosciences to sequence and assemble elephant genomes for preservation purposes.[6]
In April 2022, VGP partnered with the Human Genome Project[7] and the African BioGenome Project for sequencing research.[8]
In July 2022, VGP and Colossal Biosciences announced that they successfully sequenced the entire Asian elephant genome; this is the first time that mammalian genetic code has been fully sequenced to this degree since the Human Genome Project was completed in the early 2000s.[9]
In November 2022, VGP successfully sequenced the Nile Rat genome in order to facilitate research on type 2 diabetes and the health effects of circadian rhythm disruption. Not only did researchers sequence an individual rat, but they also sequenced both its parents, allowing them to separate the original rat’s alleles by parental haplotype. The resulting sequence showed that the vast majority of expected protein-coding genes were accounted for. [10][11]
References
[edit]- ^ "The Vertebrate Genomes Project at Rockefeller University".
- ^ Rhie, Arang; McCarthy, Shane A.; Fedrigo, Olivier; et al. (April 29, 2021). "Towards complete and error-free genome assemblies of all vertebrate species". Nature. 592 (7856): 737–746. Bibcode:2021Natur.592..737R. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03451-0. PMC 8081667. PMID 33911273.
- ^ "Scientists look to map the genes of thousands of animals". AP NEWS. 13 September 2018.
- ^ "Researchers reboot ambitious effort to sequence all vertebrate genomes, but challenges loom". Science | AAAS. September 13, 2018.
- ^ "Massive Animal Sequencing Effort Releases First Set of Genomes". The Scientist Magazine®.
- ^ Christie Rizk (October 6, 2021). "Colossal Begins Ambitious De-Extinction Plan With Elephant Sequencing Project, Despite Critics". Genome Web.
- ^ Wang, T; Antonacci-Fulton, L; Howe, K; Lawson, H; Lucas, J; Phillippy, A; Popejoy, A; Asri, M; Carson, C; Chaisson, M; Chang, X; Cook-Deegan, R; Felsenfeld, A; Fulton, R; Garrison, E; Garrison, N; Graves-Lindsay, T; Ji, H; Kenny, E; Koenig, B; Li, D; Marschall, T; McMichael, J; Novak, A; Purushotham, D; Schneider, V; Schultz, B; Smith, M; Sofia, H; Weissman, T; Flicek, P; Li, H; Miga, K; Paten, B; Jarvis, E; Hall, I; Eichler, E; Haussler, D (April 20, 2022). "The Human Pangenome Project: a global resource to map genomic diversity". Science. 604 (7906): 437–446. Bibcode:2022Natur.604..437W. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04601-8. PMC 9402379. PMID 35444317. S2CID 248297723.
- ^ John Agaba (April 12, 2022). "Sequencing 100,000 species to secure food supplies". SciDevNet.
- ^ "Colossal Biosciences and the Vertebrate Genomes Project Sequence the Asian Elephant Genome, Chromosome to Chromosome". BioSpace. July 12, 2022.
- ^ Christie Wilcox (November 23, 2022). "Genome Spotlight: Nile Rat (Avicanthis niloticus)". The Scientist.
- ^ Huishi Toh; Chentao Yang; Giulio Formenti; Kalpana Raja; Lily Yan; Alan Tracey; William Chow; Kerstin Howe; Lucie A. Bergeron; Guojie Zhang; Bettina Haase; Jacquelyn Mountcastle; Olivier Fedrigo; John Fogg; Bogdan Kirilenko; Chetan Munegowda; Michael Hiller; Aashish Jain; Daisuke Kihara; Arang Rhie; Adam M. Phillippy; Scott A. Swanson; Peng Jiang; Dennis O. Clegg; Erich D. Jarvis; James A. Thomson; Ron Stewart; Mark J. P. Chaisson; Yury V. Bukhman (November 8, 2022). "A haplotype-resolved genome assembly of the Nile rat facilitates exploration of the genetic basis of diabetes". BMC Biology. Vol. 20. doi:10.1186/s12915-022-01427-8.