The Smithsonian Institution is opening a virtual biodiversity genomics institute, ScienceInsider reports.
With is Smithsonian Institute for Biodiversity Genomics, the institution hopes to foster efforts to collect and catalog DNA from all life on Earth.
"Our goal is to pioneer novel genomic approaches, integrate them into biological endeavors throughout the Smithsonian, and serve as a resource for genomics research around the world," Pierre Comizzoli, the director of the Grand Challenges Consortia for Science at the Smithsonian, says in a statement.
ScienceInsider's Elizabeth Pennisi notes that the Smithsonian already allocates some $10 million a year for genomic research, but as part of this effort to coordinate biodiversity genomics globally, John Kress, the Smithsonian's interim under secretary for science, says he wants to raise $100 million over the next 10 years.