Features
Writing the Books of Life
Guelph biologists join global genomics project to add 10,000 vertebrate species to DNA collection
BY ANDREW VOWLES
Six years ago, scientists in the Human Genome Project gave us Vol. 1 — the full human DNA sequence, including the roughly 25,000 genes in our genetic material. Since then, researchers have added several "books" for other species from pig and mouse to dog and cat.
Now an international team of researchers that includes Guelph scientists has proposed an ambitious multi-million-dollar plan to add thousands of volumes to that growing library, including genome sequences for species already being identified here using DNA bar-coding technology at the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO).
The proposal was published last month in the Journal of Heredity.
Prof. Robert Hanner, Integrative Biology, says this "comparative genomics" project may help protect endangered or threatened species and monitor animals' responses to climate change, pollution, emerging diseases and invasive competitors. Those are key aspects of the Convention on Biological Diversity, an international agreement whose signatories include Canada. He adds that the project will also help us better understand vertebrate evolution.
The Genome 10K (G10K) researchers hope ultimately to use ever-cheaper sequencing
technology to record genome sequences for 10,000 species of vertebrate animals.
Under this proposal, scientists would not actually conduct that sequencing. Rather, as a first step, they propose collecting tissue and DNA specimens from representative mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians for eventual genome sequencing.
That work would involve partner institutions around the world but could ultimately see genome sequences read here at Guelph, says Hanner.
He and departmental colleague Prof. Paul Hebert are among 68 scientists in a group of authors from North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia who met to discuss the project earlier this year.
Both Guelph researchers are principals in the International Barcode of Life network, under which scientists are building a database to identify species of organisms using a common DNA segment, technology that was developed by Hebert, director of the BIO.
Unlike that technology — using a small telltale DNA snippet to identify species quickly,
accurately and cheaply — whole genome sequencing requires next-generation machines to read the entire sequence of DNA in each species. Hanner says current technology and related resources are not yet sophisticated or cheap enough to allow full genome sequencing for so many species.
The BIO houses one of those next-generation sequencers — among the first installed in Canada — and will develop a centre for biodiversity genomics as part of a BIO expansion plan.
Hanner and others expect huge improvements soon in sequencing efficiency and cost.
He says organizations such as the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) hope, for instance, to read human genomes cheaply and accurately. That would provide a boost to so-called "personalized medicine" for predicting genetic predisposition to disease and for recommending lifestyle changes or medical interventions.
"They want to get to the $1,000 genome," says Hanner. Referring to the G10K proposal, he adds:
"We want to generate excitement among the NIH and others for comparative genomics."
He says the proposal's authors also hope to secure funding. Although costs are unknown, he estimates the project might cost a total of about $10 million, given 10,000 genomes being read for roughly $1,000 each. Various researchers and groups would apply for funding independently.
The G10K group says comparative genomics would help scientists monitor threats to species and develop conservation plans to protect threatened or endangered species. "Such understanding could help curb the accelerating extinction crisis and slow the loss of biodiversity worldwide," they write in their proposal.
They have assembled a "virtual collection" of preserved tissues in at least 43 participating institutions, including museums, zoos, universities and research institutes worldwide.
Those specimens cover more than 16,000 representative species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fishes. There are about 60,000 living species of vertebrates.
Besides generating new information, the project will require skills and resources in computing and data analysis. Hanner says those are the kinds of skills students are learning in Guelph's new bioinformatics graduate and diploma programs, which are being taught by faculty in the departments of Integrative Biology, Computing and Information Science, Plant Agriculture, and Mathematics and Statistics.