Noah's Ark might be a Biblical tale, but Russia is trying to recreate it as a DNA databank. The Moscow State University received a scientific grant to start the project Noah's Ark. The project will allow scientists to collect the DNA of every living and extinct creature for the world's first DNA databank.
"I call the project 'Noah's Ark.' It will involve the creation of a depository — a databank for the storing of every living thing on Earth, including not only living, but disappearing and extinct organisms. This is the challenge we have set for ourselves," said MSU rector Viktor Sadivnichy in press statement.
The grant given to the university was of 1 billion rubles, which translates to $194 million. The 'ark' will be approximately 430 sq km in size and it'll be located at one of the university's central campuses.
"It will enable us to cryogenically freeze and store various cellular materials, which can then reproduce," Sadivnichy said. "It will also contain information systems. Not everything needs to be kept in a petri dish."
Sadivnichy said the databank will be completed by 2018. "If it's realized, this will be a leap in Russian history as the first nation to create an actual Noah's Ark of sorts," Sadivnichy said.
Although the ark would be big, it wouldn't be the first of its kind. Britain has the Frozen Ark, which preserves all endangered life forms and the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. is currently the largest biorepository in existence with 4.2 million samples.
