Rare animals are rare and precious animals in nature, they are an important part of biodiversity and play an important role in maintaining ecological balance. However, due to climate change, environmental pollution, habitat reduction and other reasons, many rare animals are gradually disappearing.
For this reason, April 8 is designated as the International Rare Animal Protection Day, which aims to remind us to protect those endangered wild animals.
Over the years, BGI has continued to help protect endangered species through genetic technology. Next, let's take a look at the representative endangered animals that BGI has studied~
大熊猫
As a "national treasure", the giant panda has countless fans with its cute image.
In fact, as early as 2010, BGI led the completion of the genome sequencing of the giant panda, and the results were published in Nature in the form of a cover article, and three years later, based on these data, BGI and the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reconstructed the population evolution history of the giant panda, and found that global climate change is the main factor affecting the fluctuation of the giant panda. Since then, BGI has cooperated with Zhejiang University and others to release the high-quality genomes of two subspecies of giant pandas, Qinling and Sichuan, and found that the two families separated about 10,000 years ago, and their reproductive ability has decreased compared with that of their "relative" bear.
At present, the wild population of giant pandas on the mainland is increasing, and the protection level has finally been downgraded from "endangered" to "vulnerable". In the future, BGI will continue to contribute scientific and technological strength to the conservation and research of giant pandas~
South China Tiger
The South China tiger is a subspecies endemic to the mainland, and in the 50s of the last century, the mainland entered the peak period of land reclamation, resulting in a smaller living space for tigers. In the late 90s, the South China tiger was declared functionally extinct in the wild, becoming one of the most endangered species in China.
In order to help the genetic rescue of South China tigers, in 2022, BGI and Northeast Forestry University jointly constructed a chromosome-level genome sequence map of South China tigers, and the results were published in Molecular Ecological Resources in the form of a cover article.
The study found that the South China tiger's high degree of inbreeding led to severe inbreeding decline, resulting in a high rate of premature infant mortality and frequent genetic diseases such as infertility. In addition, the study also found that 170 mutations unique to South China tigers were distributed in genes related to reproduction, growth and development, and some single nucleotide site chips may be designed for captive populations in the future to avoid the reproduction and passage of these loci~
Zhu-hsien
The crested ibis is an endemic bird of the Orient, which was once distributed in China, Korea and Japan until the 60s of the 18th century. However, as the environment changed, the crested ibis population declined dramatically and became nearly extinct. In 1981, the last seven crested ibises were found in Yaojiagou in the Qinling Mountains, and since then, China has rapidly launched habitat conservation and artificial tending efforts.
In 2019, BGI, Pompeu Fabra University in Spain and other museums around the world combined historical and modern samples to reveal the historical evolution characteristics of the crested ibis population, providing genetic information background for its restoration work, and the results were published online in Current Biology. Now, after more than 40 years of protection, the crested ibis has finally gone from seven solitary feathers to a population of more than 10,000~
Biodiversity is a precious treasure shared by all mankind, which has also become a common concern of the world. In addition to the above-mentioned rare animals, BGI has continued to use genomics related technologies to decipher the genomes of more than 4,000 species over the years to answer scientific questions related to the evolution of life and the formation of biodiversity.
In 2017, scientists from China, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries jointly launched the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP). The project aims to bring together scientists from all fields around the world to complete the genome sequencing of 1.5 million species of living things on Earth within the next 30 years and provide a comprehensive understanding of the Earth's living systems.
As one of the initiators of the EBP, BGI undertook a number of sub-projects in the project. As of February 2024, BGI has deciphered about 41% of the global contribution of animal genomes and 38% of plant genomes, and the results have been published in Nature and its series of sub-journals, Science and its series of sub-journals and Cell, etc.
In addition, BGI has initiated and funded a series of large-scale international cooperation projects for different biological groups, such as the 10,000 Species of Fish Genome Project (10KP), which aims to promote the development of basic research, breeding and agricultural applications related to plants, and the 10,000 Fish Genomes Project (Fish 10K), which aims to advance the study of the origin, evolution and development of vertebrates.
Some of the big science projects initiated and participated in by BGI
In the future, BGI will rely on the power of life sciences to intensively cultivate the road of scientific research and strive for greater breakthroughs and achievements. Use scientific, effective and sustainable methods to help people and nature live in harmony.