Gaia, the Greek name for Mother Earth, is also the theory according to which the Earth works as a cybernetic system in which live beings, collectively, and interacting with the inorganic environment, define and maintain the conditions that make life possible. However, the frantic activity of the human species is altering these conditions substantially, leading to a dramatic reduction in biodiversity. In turn, this reduction further accelerates the destruction of the conditions that permit life on Earth.
A planetwide effort is required to reverse or to control the impact of human activity on the biosphere and to maintain biodiversity. The Earth Biogenome Project (EBP) sets out precisely to obtain the sequence of the genome of all the species (eukaryotes) that inhabit the Earth. This sequence constitutes the genetic substrate of biodiversity, it is the Gaia genome. The EBP must engage societies and peoples from all over the world who hold the knowledge accumulated over generations of the natural environment in which they live. The IEC seeks to contribute to this initiative by leading the project to sequence the genome of all the eukaryotic species in the Catalan Countries.
Genomics for Biodiversity Symposium: The Genome of Gaia
Dates: September 12th and 13th, 2019
Venue: Prat de la Riba Room at the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC): c/ Carme, 47, Barcelona, Spain
Organizers: SCB, ICHN, IEC; with the support of INB/ELIXIR-ES
Registration, deadline for registration: September 5th, 2019