Genomic Connections #7 – Bringing data to life: Biodiversity genomics applications

The European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) and the European node of the International Barcode of Life (iBOL Europe), two international communities of scientists brought together under the Biodiversity Genomics Europe Project, are joining forces for “Genomic Connections,” a podcast show exploring the fascinating world of Biodiversity Genomics and the intersection of their communities.

In this month’s episode of Genomic Connections, Kasia and Christian chat with Brent Emerson and José Melo-Ferreira about the many applications of genomic data and how their work brings genomic data into action to solve real-world problems. 

Brent Emerson leads the Research Group on Ecology and Evolution on Islands, an initiative within the Institute of Natural Products and Agrobiology and the Spanish National Research Council in Tenerife (IPNA CSIC). His team uses genetic and genomic tools to understand what structures diversity. The community led by Brent focuses on the use of DNA barcodes to characterise species assemblages at scale and the genetic connectivity among species across different ecosystems.

José Melo-Ferreira is the Leader of the Genomics of Evolutionary Change research group at CIBIO-BIOPOLIS, based at CIBIO-InBIO, the Research Centre on Biodiversity and Genetic Resources of Portugal, where he is also an Assistant Professor at the University of Porto. His team uses genomic tools to understand fundamental evolutionary processes in different species. José is particularly interested in using genomics for the conservation and management of biodiversity and to understand the impact of anthropogenic change on the adaptive potential of species.

You can listen to Genomic Connections on Spotify and PocketCast.

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“Genomic Connections” is written and produced by Christian de Guttry, Kasia Fantoni, Luisa Marins and Chiara Bortoluzzi.

Graphic design: Luisa Marins

Music (intro and outro): “⁠⁠Nostalgic Reflections⁠⁠” by Ant.Survila (c) copyright 2025 Licensed under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 license. Ft: airtone.

BGE is a Horizon Europe project funded by the European Commission, the Swiss Confederation and the United Kingdom.

The episode is licensed under a CC-BY 4.0 license.