News

Team Asian Hornet team is Buzzing with excitement at winning the Dangerous Zone vote! We’d like to thank all of the fabulous children and teachers who took part and asked so many excellent questions! Your questions made us scratch our heads at times, and as a result we learned more about our organism! We’d also like to the thank the other “Dangerous Zone” competitors, especially the Leathery Sea Squirt – you were always such a hit in the chats, and Daubenton’s Bat – sorry we kept accusing you of eating us!  We hope your genomes get sequenced soon – we’d love to rub shoulders with you on GenBank! Being a social insect, we couldn’t possibly have done this alone – we work as a team! In fact, we’re a team of scientists from the UK (UCL, University of Bristol and Centre for Ecology and Hydrology), Italy (University of Pisa, University … Continue reading →

After five weeks and thousands of votes, 25 Genomes has come to a close. We can now announce the Dangerous Zone species that will have its genome sequenced by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute next year: Asian Hornet A huge thank you to all the Species Champions for taking part, you were all brilliant!

Thanks for registering in the Dangerous Zone as part of 25 Genomes. Your votes will help decide which five UK species will have their DNA fully sequenced by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute as part of it’s 25th Anniversary celebrations. You’re invited to join the Species Champions for a drop-in Live Chat, open now! This is your last chance to meet the scientists and wildlife experts championing the species in the competition. Voting will close at 3pm, when we will announce the winners in the chat! How to chat 1. Make sure you’ve logged in at the side of the Dangerous Zone homepage 2. Click the Chat icon at the top of the page to meet the Species Champions! 3. Live Chats in all Zones will be open, so you can meet Species Champions across all five zones! To head to another Zone, just click the option to chat there … Continue reading →

Thanks for registering in the Dangerous Zone as part of 25 Genomes, where your votes will help decide which UK species will have their DNA sequenced by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. This evening’s Live Chat has now started. Drop in to find out about genome sequencing, and why the Champions think their species deserves to have its DNA fully decoded. How to chat 1. Make sure you’ve logged in on the Dangerous Zone homepage 2. Click the Chat icon at the top of the page to meet the Champions! 3. Live Chats in all Zones will be open, so you can meet Champions across all five zones! To head over to another Zone, just click the option to chat there in the menu bar.   The chat is open from 8pm-9pm GMT. Drop in for five minutes to see what’s happening or stay for the whole hour to enjoy the … Continue reading →

Thanks for registering and voting in the Dangerous Zone as part of 25 Genomes. Your votes will help decide five UK species that have their DNA fully sequenced by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute as part of it’s 25th Anniversary celebrations. There are 42 species in the running, championed by team of scientists and wildlife experts answering your questions and competing for votes. Tomorrow evening (Wednesday 29th November), from 8pm – 9pm, you’re invited to join the Species Champions for a drop-in Live Chat! So far 25 Genomes has seen hundreds of questions and more than 80 live chats between students and the Champions. Meeting the Champions is open to everyone – you too can hear their cases for sequencing in the 25 Genomes drop-in Live Chats. From 8pm-9pm, the Live Chat in the Dangerous Zone will be open for an informal chat with the Champions. It’s a chance to … Continue reading →

In celebration of its 25th Anniversary, the Wellcome Sanger Institute is going to decode the DNA of 25 UK species for the first time…and you can vote to decide 5 of them! From 6th November – 8th December, a team of scientists and wildlife experts will each champion a species they think should have its entire DNA sequence decoded, competing for votes from students and the general public. The Dangerous Zone Some species are invasive and harmful. They could spread disease, prey on smaller organisms or contribute to the declining population of another organism by competing for food. The Species   Turkey Oak | Championed by Mark Winfield ‘A family of large and impressive trees; some of my cousins were used to make Viking longships ships.’       Oak Apple Gallwasp | Championed by Graham Stone and Mark Blaxter ‘I can make an oak tree grow completely new parts that feed, … Continue reading →