How does our DNA, the tiny building blocks that make every species, and every individual, totally distinct, impact our evolution? In this episode, we learn how we can visualise our DNA, or genome, to allow us to better organise the tree of life, and how learning more about this genetic make-up can provide insights into how a species survives in the face of a changing environment. We head to Cambridge, to ring native UK birds and collect samples of their DNA, and then to the Wellcome Sanger Institute, to see learn how those samples are processed and sequenced as part of a collaborative project aiming to sequence the genomes of all eukaryotes in Britain and Ireland; the Darwin Tree of Life project.

Overview

00:11    Harriet McAra, Host of Wild Science, Episode introduction

01:26    Bird ringing in Cambridgeshire and Dr Ava Jenkins, Wildlife Veterinarian and Postdoctoral Research Associate, ZSL Institute of Zoology

03:13    Professor Mark Blaxter, Head of the Tree of Life Programme, Wellcome Sanger Institute

06:18    Dr Tom Mathers, Senior Computer Biologist, Wellcome Sanger Institute

12:44    A word of thanks

18:44    A final thought from Mark Blaxter

22:57    Outro

Hi-C contact map of the common crane (Grus grus)

Hi-C contact map showing the common crane genome (https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/10-119/v1) after manual curation. Each block represents a chromosome in order of size from left to right and top to bottom, with dark red cluster in the bottom right hand corner showing unplaced repetitive content.

Resources

If there's a topic you'd like to hear on a future podcast, or if you'd like to share your thoughts, email the ZSL Wild Science Podcast at: wild.science@zsl.org Check out our science and conservation work at: www.zsl.org/Science or www.zsl.org/conservation Darwin Tree of Life project: https://www.zsl.org/what-we-do/projects/darwin-tree-life-project Dr Ava Jenkins: https://www.zsl.org/about-zsl/our-people/dr-ava-jenkins BTO ringing scheme: https://www.bto.org/get-involved/volunteer/projects/bird-ringing-scheme Bortoluzzi, C., Wright, C.J., Lee, S., Cousins, T., Genez, T.A.L., Thybert, D., Martin, F.J., Haggerty, L., The Darwin Tree of Life Project Consortium, Blaxter, M., Durbin, R. (2023) Lepidoptera genomics based on 88 chromosomal reference sequences informs population genetic parameters for conservation. Pre-print: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.04.14.536868v1.full.pdf  Get in touch 

Email wild.science@zsl.org with your questions, comments, and thoughts for future episodes! Find us @ZSLScience on X or @zslofficial.bsky.social on BlueSky and use the hashtag #ZSLWildScience Follow us on Facebook @ZSLScienceAndConservation

Episode ID: 1000751912874

GUID: 8204dc46-6c35-4453-8aba-37f97e942191

Release Date: 27/02/2026, 17:30:00