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Dr Ashley Lyons joins Darwin Tree of Life Project

HCA building under blue sky

Dr Ashley Lyons, from the Department of Geography and Environmental Science, was invited to take part in the first organised collection of specimens for the Darwin Tree of Life Project.

Led by the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the project is part of the global effort to sequence the genomes of all known animal, plant, protozoa and fungi species on Earth.

Dr Lyons said: “To be part of such an ambitious project, to sequence all known eukaryotic species on Earth, is extremely exciting and such a great privilege. Developments in scientific knowledge, coupled with technological advancements are allowing us to develop techniques which will better enable us to understand evolutionary processes and ultimately preserve biodiversity.”

The Darwin Tree of Life Project aims to sequence the genomes of all 66,000 eukaryotic species known in the UK over the next 10 years.

In just three days, the ‘DNA bioblitz’, organised by The Natural History Museum London and Natural England, aimed to collect and sequence 600 species of invertebrates in real time.


Published on 15/07/2019