title: It's more than stamp collecting: how genome sequencing can unify biological research.
abstract: The availability of reference genome sequences, especially the human reference, has revolutionized the study of biology. However, while the genomes of some species have been fully sequenced, a wide range of biological problems still cannot be effectively studied for lack of genome sequence information. Here, I identify neglected areas of biology and describe how both targeted species sequencing and more broad taxonomic surveys of the tree of life can address important biological questions. I enumerate the significant benefits that would accrue from sequencing a broader range of taxa, as well as discuss the technical advances in sequencing and assembly methods that would allow for wide-ranging application of whole-genome analysis. Finally, I suggest that in addition to 'big science' survey initiatives to sequence the tree of life, a modified infrastructure-funding paradigm would better support reference genome sequence generation for research communities most in need.
authors.affiliation: Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Electronic address: stephenr@bcm.edu.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Richards
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016678:Genome; D023281:Genomics; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D006801:Humans; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
keywords: DNA sequencing; Long read sequencing technologies; eukaryotes; eukaryotic genomics; genome analysis; genome assembly; genome infrastructure funding; genome reference sequences; taxanomic genome surveys; tree of life