EXCERPT

It took a decade and nearly $3 billion to completely sequence the human genome. Now researchers at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History are helping to tackle Earth's remaining 1.3 million species through the Global Genome Initiative.

The plan is to eventually freeze embryos, seeds, and other genetic samples from as many of Earth's life-forms as possible. The project will make use of the Smithsonian Institute's biorepository, a 6,500-square-foot, $9 million storage facility that has space for more than 4.2 million tiny vials of cryogenically frozen tissue samples.

SOURCE

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/130805-genome-smithsonian-dna-sequencing-science/