Smithsonian Biorepository (IMAGE)
Caption
Approximately 40% of the newly sequenced bird genomes were obtained using tissue samples preserved in the National Museum of Natural History's Avian Genetic Resources Collection, which started in 1986 and has since become part of the museum’s biorepository in support of the its broader Global Genome Initiative.
In the Nov. 11 issue of the journal Nature, scientists from the Smithsonian Institution, the University of Copenhagen, BGI-Shenzen, the University of California, Santa Cruz and approximately 100 other institutions report on the genomes of 363 species of birds, including 267 that have been sequenced for the first time. The studied species represent more than 92% of the world's avian families. The data from the study will advance research on the evolution of birds and aids in the conservation of threatened bird species.
Credit
Donald E. Hurlbert, Smithsonian
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