KSP: A Norwegian BioGenome initiative: the initial Launch phase

Biodiversity is increasingly threatened by human-related activities, directly and indirectly, which ultimately imperils both the global food supply and other biological resources that we depend upon. Therefore, understanding and preserving species and ecosystems are global imperatives for human survival and prosperity. Each organism and species on the planet has a unique "blueprint" encoded by its genome, i.e. its total DNA, which contains all the information that the species needs to survive, interact with its environment and reproduce. Knowing and understanding the complete DNA sequence of all species of life on Earth will not only provide fundamental new insights into biology, understanding biodiversity and transform our ability to tailor conservation of life, but also deliver a comprehensive view of nature?s toolkit for future biotechnology to provide humanity with food, medical treatment, drugs, vaccines, biofuels and biomaterials. The Earth BioGenome Project (EBP) is a global non-profit initiative that aims to sequence and catalogue the genomes of all of Earth's 1.5 million currently described eukaryotic species over a period of ten years. EBP-Nor represents a first phase of a Norwegian initiative of EBP. In the first phase we aim to establish the collaboration, sharing of work, routines for sampling, sequencing, analyses and storage and availability of data within the national consortium consisting of the major universities in Norway (UiO, NMBU, UiB, NTNU, Uni Nord and UiT), the research institute SINTEF, and the non-academic institutions REVOcean, the Life Science Cluster, the Norwegian Environment Agency, and ArcticZymes Technologies. Within the first phase we will sample and produce high quality reference genome for a limited number (100-150) of carefully selected species as a proof of concept and for establishing robust protocols. The ultimate goals in a longer time perspective is to obtain complete genomes of all eukaryotic species in Norway.

Biodiversity is increasingly threatened by human-related activities, directly and indirectly, which ultimately imperils both the global food supply and other biological resources that we depend upon. Therefore, understanding and preserving species and ecosystems are global imperatives for human survival and prosperity. Each organism and species on the planet has a unique "blueprint" encoded by its genome, i.e. its total DNA, which contains all the information that the species needs to survive, interact with its environment and reproduce. Knowing and understanding the complete DNA sequence of all species of life on Earth will not only provide fundamental new insights into biology, understanding biodiversity and transform our ability to tailor conservation of life, but also deliver a comprehensive view of nature’s toolkit for future biotechnology to provide humanity with food, medical treatment, drugs, vaccines, biofuels and biomaterials. The Earth BioGenome Project is a global non-profit initiative that aims to sequence and catalogue the genomes of all of Earth's 1.5 million currently described eukaryotic species over a period of ten years. EBP-Nor is the Norwegian initiative of EBP, and a partnership of the major universities in Norway (UiO, NMBU, UiB, NTNU, Uni Nord and UiT), the research institute SINTEF, and the non-academic institutions REVOcean, the Life Science Cluster, the Norwegian Environment Agency, and ArcticZymes Technologies. Together we will sequence and catalogue all eukaryotic species occurring in Norway, estimated to 45,000 species.