The European Reference Genome Atlas: piloting a decentralised approach to equitable biodiversity genomics.
Ann M Mc CartneyGiulio FormentiAlice MoutonDiego De PanisLuísa S MarinsHenrique G LeitãoGenevieve DiedericksJoseph KirangwaMarco MorselliJudit Salces-OrtizNuria EscuderoAlessio IannucciChiara NataliHannes SvardalRosa FernándezTim De PooterGeert JorisMojca StrazisarJonathan M D WoodKatie E HerronOle SeehausenPhillip C WattsFelix ShawRobert P DaveyAlice MinottoJosé M FernándezAstrid BöhneCarla AlegriaTyler AliotoPaulo C AlvesIsabel R AmorimJean-Marc AuryNiclas BackstromPetr BaldrianLaima BaltrunaiteEndre BartaBertrand BedHomCaroline BelserJohannes BergstenLaurie BertrandHelena BilandijaMahesh Binzer-PanchalIliana BistaMark BlaxterPaulo A V BorgesGuilherme Borges DiasMirte BosseTom BrownRémy BruggmannElena Buena-AtienzaJosephine BurginElena BuzanAlessia CarianiNicolas CasadeiMatteo ChiaraSergio ChozasFedor ČiamporAngelica CrottiniCorinne CruaudFernando CruzLove DalenAlessio De BiaseJavier Del CampoTeo DelicAlice B DennisMartijn F L DerksMaria Angela DiromaMihajla DjanSimone DupratKlara EleftheriadiPhiline G D FeulnerJean-François FlotGiobbe ForniBruno FossoPascal FournierChristine Fournier-ChambrillonToni GabaldonShilpa GargCarmela GissiLuca GiupponiJessica Gomez-GarridoJosefa GonzálezMiguel L GriloBjörn GrüningThomas GuerinNadege GuiglielmoniMarta GutMarcel P HaeslerChristoph HahnBalint HalpernPeter W HarrisonJulia HeintzMaris HindriksonJacob HöglundKerstin HoweGraham M HughesBenjamin IstaceMark J CockFranc JanžekovičZophonias O JonssonSagane Joye-DindJanne J KoskimäkiBoris KrystufekJustyna KubackaHeiner KuhlSzilvia KuszaKarine LabadieMeri LähteenaroHenrik LantzAnton LavrinienkoLucas LeclèreRicardo Jorge LopesOle MadsenGhislaine MagdelenatGiulia MagogaTereza ManousakiTapio MappesJoao Pedro MarquesGemma I Martinez RedondoFlorian MaumusShane A McCarthyHendrik-Jan MegensJose Melo-FerreiraSofia L MendesMatteo MontagnaJoao MorenoMai-Britt MosbechMónica MouraZuzana MusilovaEugene MyersWill J NashAlexander NaterPamela NicholsonManuel NiellReindert NijlandBenjamin NoelKarin NorenPedro H OliveiraRemi-Andre OlsenLino OmettoRebekah A OomenStephan OssowskiVaidas PalinauskasSnaebjorn PalssonJerome P PanibeJoana PauperioMartina PavlekEmilie PayenJulia PawlowskaJaume PellicerGraziano PesoleJoao PimentaMartin PippelAnna Maria PirttiläNikos PoulakakisJeena RajanRúben M C RegoRoberto ResendesPhilipp ReslAna RiesgoPatrik Rodin-MorchAndre E R SoaresCarlos Rodriguez FernandesMaria M RomeirasGuilherme RoxoLukas RüberMaria Jose Ruiz-LopezUrmas SaarmaLuis P da SilvaManuela Sim-SimLucile SolerVitor C SousaCarla Sousa SantosAlberto SpadaMilomir StefanovicViktor StegerJosefin StillerMatthias StöckTorsten H StruckHiranya SudasingheRiikka TapanainenChristian Tellgren-RothHelena TrindadeYevhen TukalenkoIlenia UrsoBenoit VacherieSteven M Van BelleghemKees Van OersCarlos Vargas-ChavezNevena VelickovicNoel VellaAdriana VellaCristiano VernesiSara VicenteSara VillaOlga Vinnere PetterssonFilip A M VolckaertJudit VorosPatrick WinckerSylke WinklerClaudio CiofiRobert M WaterhouseCamila J MazzoniPublished in: npj biodiversity (2024)
A genomic database of all Earth's eukaryotic species could contribute to many scientific discoveries; however, only a tiny fraction of species have genomic information available. In 2018, scientists across the world united under the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP), aiming to produce a database of high-quality reference genomes containing all ~1.5 million recognized eukaryotic species. As the European node of the EBP, the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) sought to implement a new decentralised, equitable and inclusive model for producing reference genomes. For this, ERGA launched a Pilot Project establishing the first distributed reference genome production infrastructure and testing it on 98 eukaryotic species from 33 European countries. Here we outline the infrastructure and explore its effectiveness for scaling high-quality reference genome production, whilst considering equity and inclusion. The outcomes and lessons learned provide a solid foundation for ERGA while offering key learnings to other transnational, national genomic resource projects and the EBP.