The European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) and the European node of the International Barcode of Life (iBOL Europe), two international communities of scientists brought together under the Biodiversity Genomics Europe Project, are joining forces for “Connections,” a series of blog posts that explore the fascinating world of Biodiversity Genomics and the intersection of their communities. In this blog post, we give a short introduction to both communities.
In our first post, we introduced Biodiversity Genomics and its importance. Today, we highlight the two growing communities powering the Biodiversity Genomics Europe (BGE) project: iBOL Europe and ERGA. Each of these pan-European networks brings its unique approach to understanding and protecting the living world, yet both share a common mission: to safeguard Earth’s biodiversity at a critical moment in our planet’s history.
iBOL Europe is the European regional node of the global International Barcode of Life consortium (iBOL). Its core method, DNA barcoding, relies on short, standardised segments of DNA to identify species accurately and efficiently, much like human fingerprints can be used to identify individuals. With a broad network of more than 500 members from 173 institutions across 29 European countries, iBOL Europe is building an interconnected system that can rapidly detect and monitor species, offering critical insights into their distributions and interactions. iBOL Europe’s work also links into iBOL’s global BIOSCAN initiative, which aims to track species worldwide, discover novel ones, and deepen our understanding of ecosystem dynamics.
ERGA (the European Reference Genome Atlas) tackles biodiversity from another angle: assembling high-quality reference genomes. As the European node of the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP), ERGA’s goal is to coordinate the sequencing and assembly of the complete genomic “blueprints” of all eukaryotic species across Europe, offering extraordinary details about each organism’s genetic makeup. These chromosome-level genomes serve as foundational resources, allowing researchers to explore complex biological processes and evolutionary histories. Beyond generating genomes, ERGA’s pan-European community works on best-practice guidelines, training materials, and community-based actions that strengthen the entire biodiversity genomics ecosystem.
Despite their distinct approaches, one focusing on rapid species identification through barcoding, the other on in-depth genomic assemblies, iBOL Europe and ERGA both endorse the urgent need to address biodiversity loss. Together, they form complementary pillars under the BGE project, accelerating our collective capacity to observe and protect life on Earth. In our next post, we will go deeper into how barcoding and reference genomes intersect, overlap, and collectively expand our understanding of biodiversity genomics. We hope you enjoyed this exploration of the two key communities, and we look forward to sharing more insights soon!
Read the other posts in the series:
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