This year, the endangered kiwi became one of only 50 among 10,000 bird species worldwide to have its genome mapped. Photo / iStock / Getty Images
This year, the endangered kiwi became one of only 50 among 10,000 bird species worldwide to have its genome mapped. Photo / iStock / Getty Images
A renowned Harvard University evolutionary biologist is backing a new bid to map out the DNA of our endangered native species before they are lost.
Professor Scott Edwards, who is giving guest lecture at Auckland Museum tonight, says urgently undertaking the vital scientific work should be a point of "national pride" for New Zealand.
With new technology, unraveling the DNA sequence of a genome - the complete set of genetic materials that make up any organism - was becoming cheaper and quicker, and Dr Edwards said there was now a "gold rush" to reveal the evolutionary histories of many species.
Earlier this year, the endangered kiwi became one of only 50 from 10,000 bird species worldwide to have its genome mapped.
The findings revealed our national bird was colourblind and had evolved its sense of smell and colour 35 million years ago to help it cope with its nocturnal life sniffing around the undergrowth at night.
While completing the DNA jigsaw puzzle could offer remarkable new insights into our country's incredible range of endemic wildlife, it could also aid efforts to conserve those many species on the brink of extinction.
"I think it's natural for scientists to want to showcase to the world all of the amazing aspects of their country's biology and evolution, and a great way to do that these days is to sequence their genomes," he told the Herald.
"This is becoming increasingly cheap enough that the limiting factor isn't really the cost or the labour - it's more just having the samples, and of course, most of the samples New Zealand needs are right here in the country."
Dr Edwards saw sequencing as a "long-term investment" that would provide biologists an invaluable record of the country's native plant and wildlife for generations to come.
"In New Zealand scientists, you've got the skill and you've got the initiative - they've repeatedly shown that they're among the best in the world at this sort of thing, so I just think it would be fabulous, and a point of national pride, to get it done."
Dr Peter Dearden, director of the Otago University-based Genetics Otago, was helping put together a proposal to put to the Government titled the 100 Taonga genomes project, which would map the DNA of our most precious species.
While the cost of genome sequencing itself had come down significantly over recent years - it would cost around $17,000 for a typical bird, or between $25,000 to $30,000 for the endangered Hector's dolphin - funding remained a barrier.
"The way that our funding system in New Zealand is set up, it's actually quite hard to get money for these kinds of projects, which are really about finding basic information.
"It had been frustrating to some scientists that the kiwi genome sequence was carried out by scientists overseas.
"We actually have a really good strength in this area, but I know lots of people who are finding it difficult to get jobs, and who are world-class people in genetics and genomes - and this is a huge opportunity to use their skills in New Zealand, for the benefit of New Zealand."
Dr Edwards was being hosted by the Massey University-based Allan Wilson Centre, which is facing closure after losing $4.5 million in annual government funding.
A recovering harrier hawk poses with one of the two new infra-red cameras that have been installed at the Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre. Photo / Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre
It's kiwi telly - but not the kind we're used to
Watching another kiwi chick hatch from its egg is a thing to celebrate in New Zealand, but few of us ever get to see it.
Thanks to new technology, however, the entire world can watch on as two infra-red cameras take web users inside the special units and pens of the Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre.
Sponsors Bayer New Zealand recently helped it replace its old cameras with new ones that allowed the centre for injured and ill to share hatchings through its live webcast function.
"The webcasts have become a fantastic educational tool for schools," centre manager Robert Webb said.
"We have schools requesting to design their curriculum around our footage and the teachers are able to use the images to support their programmes."
Outside New Zealand, a class in the United States was able to watch a kiwi hatch and view hawks and albatrosses being cared for.
"The cameras really are the heart of the centre, they encourage people to come up here and experience these beautiful birds which means that we can continue caring for them."
The webcasts are available via the centre's website, www.nbr.org.nz.
