Some scientists consider the biodiversity crisis to be a greater threat than climate change. Over 37,000 species worldwide (28% of all species) are at risk of extinction.

A reference genome is a digital nucleic acid sequence database assembled by scientists as a representative example of the set of genes in one idealized individual organism of a species. Reference genomes provide the most complete insight into the genetic basis that forms each species and represent a powerful resource in understanding how biodiversity functions. With approximately one-fifth of the ~200,000 European species at risk of extinction, European scientists decided to act fast and together to generate high-quality complete genome resources on a large scale.

What you’ll learn in this session:

• What the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) is
• ERGA’s impact on the scientific community and beyond
• Examples of recent genomes completed and how they will improve knowledge and applications
• Future plans: scaling up genome production for the European biodiversity