The Darwin Tree of Life
Reading the genomes of all life: a new platform for understanding our biodiversity
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.
What we do
We use genomic data to understand the evolution of the diversity of life, to explore the biology of organisms and ecosystems, to aid conservation efforts and to provide new tools for medicine 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.
We are focussing on the organisms that live in and around Britain and Ireland because they constitute what is probably the best known and most deeply studied biota in the world, explored during centuries of observation and research.
Tree of Life News Feed
- Life inside life: Understanding the ‘pandemic’ infecting nearly half of all insect species February 2, 2023
- Broad appeal: DToL’s DNA Barcoding inspires citizen science in Hertfordshire January 13, 2023
- DToL in 2022: First 500 genome assemblies as project creates a buzz December 20, 2022
- The year we built the biggest genome in Britain and Ireland December 16, 2022
- Fungal forays into Wheatfen December 13, 2022
- Comparing apples with apples: Our first plant genomes December 7, 2022
- Orcinus orca: How a tragic stranding helped us dive into the killer whale genome October 10, 2022
- Biodiversity Genomics event returns for third year, as dynamic new scientific field grows globally September 28, 2022
Recent Comments
Do all butterflies migrate? Are they all as extreme as the monarch butterfly? (1 comment)
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How do you ensure that your DNA samples haven't been contaminated? (2 comments)