Harnessing the power of genomics to protect Europe’s biodiversity

BGE+ to implement a €2.75m budget for individual projects BGE+ aims to scale up and scale out the production and application of DNA barcode and genome sequence data during the next 3.5 years. For that purpose, the project will mobilise a distributed network of researchers across Europe, delivering new insights into species and genetic diversity along the way. Not that we have not done this before. In fact, BGE+ will build on the cross-border barcode

Expanding Europe’s DNA Barcoding Capacity for Biodiversity – IBOL Europe DNA barcoding is an essential component of our technological toolkit for effective species discovery, identification, and monitoring in the face of the ongoing biodiversity and climate crises. However, national capacity for its implementation remains limited, and the barcode reference libraries underpinning its use remain incomplete, particularly in Europe’s most biodiverse regions. The Biodiversity Genomics Europe project (BGE, 2023-26) addressed these challenges by supporting new national

Supporting the whole-genome research community through ERGA Producing a reference genome, a detailed map of a species’ DNA, can take years of fieldwork, laboratory experiments, and computer analysis. Its value also depends on what happens afterwards. Researchers need shared standards to assess data quality, places to exchange expertise, and the means to apply genomic information to questions in conservation, agriculture, and ecosystem management. BGE+ will support this wider research community through the European Reference Genome