Tree of Life
3 July 2025Enter the absorbing world of sponges, the intricate animals that have evolved to inhabit all corners of our Earth’s waterways and oceans. Thanks to a worldwide collaboration of sponge scientists through the Aquatic Symbiosis Genomics project, which is led by the Wellcome Sanger Institute, more than 50 published high-quality sponge genomes and counting are now freely accessible to the research community.
18 December 202012.4 min readDespite restrictions, 2020 has been a busy year for the Darwin Tree of Life Project. We take a look at some of this year’s achievements and highlights.
13 May 20208.2 min readFew organisms have, as Darwin himself wrote, played such an important role in the history of the world.
4 May 20205.1 min readAs part of the Sanger Institute’s 25 Genomes Project, the king scallop, Pecten maximus, had its genome sequenced.
15 February 20208.1 min readProgress and promise of the Earth Biogenome Project - a mission to sequence all known eukaryotic species.
5 September 20195.3 min readBrown trout are highly adaptable and its genetic make up may hold key answers to helping species survive climate change
18 December 20184.5 min readFrom ragworts that are too common and the tricky toughness of truffles to the trials of getting DNA samples a US Visa, Dan Mead gives his personal reflections on project managing the 25 Genomes Project
