Date Time Sequencing genomes of every vertebrate A global consortium of leading genome scientists, including La Trobe University Professor Jenny Graves, is backing a move to sequence the DNA of all 71,657 species of animals with backbones. The cover story in today’s issue of Nature shows how the feat could be achieved, and explains the enormous benefits. “Sequencing animal genomes has got cheaper and easier since the human genome was released more than twenty years ago, costing AUD$4 billion or $14 billion in today’s dollars,” said Professor Jenny Graves, the 2017 Prime Minister’s Science Prize winner. “If done today it would cost just one or two thousand dollars.”