Can Gene Research Change The World? | Wytham Woods

'Ambitious' is the central word to the Wytham Genome project. Led by Peter Holland, the team of biologists, data analysts and scientists are sequencing the DNA of every – yes, every – species in Wytham Woods. From the fluttering butterflies to the worms underground, intricate analysis is taking place to read and understand the complexities of the species we live alongside, so we can protect them from extinction.

Liam Crowley explains how, with a full genome, we can biologically time travel and see how they functioned in the past. To see how they act at a molecular level offers not just a retrospective approach either - genomes allow us to look ahead and see how they might evolve. As part of the Darwin Tree of Life Project, the project’s scale and breadth becomes ever more impressive; the data which Peter Holland, Owen Lewis, Liam Crowley, Peter Mulhair, Sarah Knowles and Douglas Boyes have been gathering will be part of the DNA sequences of every animal, plant and fungi in the UK. That’s around 60,000 species, and many many As, Ts, Cs and Gs.

Video made by Angel Sharp Media http://www.angelsharp.com/

More from the Laboratory with Leaves video series: http://www.wythamwoods.ox.ac.uk/