In this episode, we talk about the Darwin Tree of Life: Sequencing the Biome of the Great Britain with Professor Mark Blaxter & Dr Alex Twyford
The Darwin Tree of Life project aims to sequence the genomes of all 70,000 species of eukaryotic organisms in Britain and Ireland. It is a collaboration between biodiversity, genomics and analysis partners that hopes to transform the way we do biology, conservation and biotechnology. The Darwin Tree of Life Project is one of several initiatives across the globe working towards the ultimate goal of sequencing all complex life on Earth, in a venture known as the Earth BioGenome Project.
Prof. Mark Blaxter and his group use modern sequencing and bioinformatics technologies to investigate the genomes of many different species of animals. Professor Mark Blaxter is the Founder and Director of Genome Science of Edinburgh Genomics (http://genomics.ed.ac.uk) the University's advanced genomics facility. Dr Alex Twyford is an evolutionary geneticist interested in the ecology and evolution of plants.
Interviewed by Hazel (Wu) Huang, Introduced by Ruby White, Edited by Sam Haynes. Media by Hanna Peach, Artwork by Chris Donohoe