Phylogenomics as a tool to infer the Tree of Life and a case study of the environmental footprint of scientific research

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Biodiversity represents an increasing concern to governments, as demonstrated by the establishment of an Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Yet, our understanding of most aspects relevant to a sustainable economy remains poor. In this proposal, we will improve our knowledge of evolution over long time periods by deciphering the most ancient relationships among extant organisms (eukaryotes - organisms characterized by a nucleus- and prokaryotes). To resolve these difficult questions, we will develop more powerful inference methods and gather larger datasets; in other words we will combine the power of genomics and computational biology. However, this approach depends on resources and generates pollution, hence increasingly contributes to the loss of biodiversity. This seems to contradict the common, yet often implicit, assumption that a better knowledge of biodiversity (e.g. composition, mechanisms, evolution) is key to its protection and management. Therefore, we will start a new research direction to test this knowledge hypothesis by quantifying the environmental footprint of phylogenetic research in the past and in the present, and by studying whether it would be possible to reduce it in the future. Methods of footprint reduction that will not compromise the quality of the scientific output will be sought at technical level (i.e. in the design of experiments) and at the social level (i.e. in the selection of grants and of publications).