In an effort to preserve all life on Earth, the World Economic Forum has entered into a partnership with the Earth BioGenome Project and Earth Bank of Codes, with a plan to sequence the DNA of all complex life-forms on Earth
Headed by Harris Lewin, a professor at the University of California, Davis, the project will sequence the genome of the approximately 1.5 million eukaryotes (organisms with a membrane-enclosed nucleus in their cells) in the world, including all known plants, animals and single-celled organisms. It¡¯s estimated the project will cost about $4.7 billion and will take at least a decade to complete.
¡°The partnership will construct a global biology infrastructure project to sequence life on the planet to enable solutions for preserving the Earth¡¯s biodiversity, managing ecosystems, spawning bio-based industries and sustaining human societies,¡± said Lewin. The Earth Bank of Codes will then make this data available to experts around the world, to help with developing bio-engineered chemicals, materials, and technologies.
Experts at the World Economic Forum are calling this the ¡°Fourth Industrial Revolution¡±, learning from the DNA in nature to better solve humanity¡¯s most pressing needs.