Researchers in Spain have developed a new genomics tool that can classify how species are related to each other at far larger scales than previously possible and may yield new drugs, materials and foods — and pinpoint strategies for saving species at risk of extinction.

Heralded as a “Hubble Space Telescope” of genomics, the technology can simultaneously compare 1.4 million genetic sequences, according to the research, published today in Nature Biotechnology. The researchers from the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona say their development may reconstruct how life has evolved over hundreds of millions of years and makes important inroads for the ambition to understand the code of life for every living species on Earth.

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