Biodiversity solutions
PacBio sequencing delivers the data that empowers biodiversity and conservation initiatives with exceptional multiomic insights. Our state-of-the-art technologies enable you to more comprehensively document and delve into the hidden wonders of the biosphere and launch campaigns to safeguard them for future generations.
Animal population health
Correctly identify at-risk populations and develop action plans to protect endangered species and habitats from things such as increased genetic drift, inbreeding depression, and reduced geneflow.
Climate change and the environment
Get the granular information you need to evaluate a species’ ability to adapt to ecological and environmental change using high-quality whole genome sequences, transcriptomes, and epigenomes available.
Marine biodiversity
Grasp how aquatic species adapt to extreme environments and explore how complex genotypes like bioluminescence evolve with full-length transcriptomes and reference-quality genome assemblies. Such information is vital in guiding efforts to protect life in our global ocean.
Protect biodiversity for people and the planet
Species loss and the degradation of global biodiversity threaten the air, water, and food supplies that we all depend on. PacBio supplies one of the world’s most sophisticated mulitomics technologies for exploring biological complexity and arming conservation initiatives with the best data possible for preserving our living world.
HiFi sequencing can be used to construct and phase the most detailed reference genomes possible, from blue whales to single cells. Moreover, accurate long reads are capable of characterizing entire biological communities with HiFi metagenomic and metabarcoding techniques. 5mC methylation detection allows you to glimpse gene activity of any organism with stunning clarity without any changes to library preparation.
The Iso-Seq method brings the length and accuracy of HiFi sequencing to transcriptomics to enhance your understanding of gene expression and how organisms respond to their ecological contexts.
Combined, these technologies give biodiversity experts the ability to better understand the ecology and conservation needs of any species. Such detailed multiomic information may even hold promise for improving human health through bioprospecting and can serve as a hedge against extinction.
“De novo genome sequencing offers transformative insights for conservation by generating high-quality reference genomes that serve as foundational tools for understanding genetic diversity, inbreeding, population structure, local adaptation, and other conservation priorities.”
— International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Congress session description, 2025
Common questions about biodiversity
Biodiversity in action
Into the multiome: Four high-quality ‘omes from a single Revio SMRT Cell run
The complex and dynamic interactions between the genome sequence, its epigenetic regulation, and their combined effects on transcript expression and splicing are fundamental to our understanding of biology, and their aberrations to elicit disease.
Application Note: Kinnex full-length RNA
The new Kinnex full-length RNA kit increases Iso-Seq read throughput 8-fold for plant and animal applications
Whole genome sequencing best practices
Look at recommended workflows for assembling reference-quality genomes of everything from insects and big cats to giant coastal redwoods, de novo.
Metabarcoding of fungi and other eukaryotes
Explore how HiFi sequencing is being used to help researchers peer deep into the evolutionary tree of life to better understand when and how eukaryotic lineages colonized different habitats.
Powering biodiversity genomics to understand and preserve our living planet
Highly accurate HiFi sequencing is helping researchers decode the genomes of some of Earth’s oldest and most resilient organisms. By revealing genetic insights into longevity, adaptation, and resilience, HiFi long reads support biodiversity research and conservation efforts for species that are difficult to study using other sequencing approaches.
Ecosystem diversity for animal and plant health
Assemble and analyze reference quality genomes to uncover how habitat fragmentation and demographic history shape genetic diversity in threatened species. Highly accurate long-read sequencing enables resolution of population structure and historical population size that cannot be reliably inferred from lower quality genomic data.
Use whole genome insights to identify conservation risks such as reduced genetic diversity, increasing inbreeding, and long-term population isolation that impact species survival.
See how researchers used whole genome sequencing in 2025 to study endangered maned sloths from Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, revealing distinct population histories and rising inbreeding linked to habitat fragmentation and informing conservation priorities.
Biodiversity for climate change
Glimpse how species adjust to climate change and evaluate the adaptive potential of populations to cope with environmental instability using the power of HiFi multiomic solutions.
- Construct phased, reference-quality genomes to capture the full genetic potential of individuals and compile pangemomes to understand the genotypic wealth hidden within entire populations or species.
- Use 5mC methylation detection to reveal potentially heritable changes in gene expression of your target species.
- Deploy the Kinnex Iso-Seq method to construct isoform-level annotations for evaluating metabolic and adaptive potential and revealing the molecular mechanisms behind complex physiologies.
Biodiversity for marine conservation
Use HiFi sequencing to explore the genomes and transcriptomes of diverse marine species and ecosystems. Accurate long read genomic data helps reveal how species adapt and evolve, as demonstrated in recent work generating a chromosome level genome for an adaptable coastal fish that uncovered genomic signatures of environmental response and tolerance.
Here’s how HiFi sequencing supports marine biodiversity research:
- Assemble reference quality genomes to uncover genetic mechanisms underlying environmental adaptation and stress tolerance in marine species.
- Profile full length transcripts with Iso-Seq to reveal gene expression and isoform diversity associated with resilience and ecological flexibility.
- Target and sequence genomic regions of interest across populations while preserving long amplicon information for functional and comparative studies.
Biodiversity
A grand challenge with a grand vision: the Earth Biogenome Project
PacBio has partnered with the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP) to deploy the power of HiFi sequencing to catapult humanity into a new era of biodiversity conservation and comprehension. With the goal of sequencing and assembling genomes for all known eukaryotic species on the planet within ten years, the pursuit is challenging but the benefits are immeasurable.
Applications to fuel biodiversity research and discovery
Whole genome sequencing
Quickly and affordably create more complete, contiguous, and correct de novo assemblies of even the most complex genomes like the 27 Gb coastal redwood.
Structural variant calling
Acquire high-sensitivity variant calls with low false discovery rates to gain actionable insights across populations.
RNA sequencing
Leverage the isoform sequence (Iso-Seq) method using the Kinnex RNA kit to obtain full-length cDNA sequences — from 5’ to the poly-A tail — to confidently characterize the full transcriptome.
Metagenomics
Uncover hidden microbiome functions and confidently capture microbial species richness and diversity with the highest quality metagenomic data available — only with HiFi metagenomic sequencing.
FEATURED LONG-READ SEQUENCING SYSTEMS
PacBio long-read sequencers empower you to uncover the hidden wonders of the biosphere.
Unravel biological complexities and arm your conservation initiatives with the exceptional accuracy of HiFi reads.