Introduction

Hong Kong's emblem is the beautiful Bauhinia flower and appears on our flag. This is the flower of the orchid tree Bauhinia blakeana, which was first discovered in Hong Kong. What many people may not know is that it is a sterile hybrid, and how and why it ended up in Hong Kong is shrouded in mystery.

One of the best ways to help uncover the secrets of any organism is by understanding its genetic makeup. Genomics, sequencing of the genetic code of organisms, provides a complete look into the genetic complement of any species. It is also one of the key technologies that will define the 21st century. While Hong Kong has made major advances in this field, the general public may have little awareness and understanding of what this field even is.

By bringing together the emblematic and mysterious Bauhinia flower and the power and knowledge of genome technology, we can build a bridge between science and community— enlightening our understanding of this plant’s interesting biology and informing and educating the public about this exciting and rapidly advancing field.

To build such a collaborative endeavour, we are launching the Hong Kong genome project through which we will sequence the genome of the Hong Kong emblem to better understand where it came from; train local students to assemble and analyse the data — crucial skills needed for this field to advance; and engage the public through local pride.

This will be the first Hong Kong genome project: funded by the public; sequenced in Hong Kong; assembled and analysed by local students; and directly shared with the public. We also welcome contributions and interest from the rest of the world, hoping this serves as a model to inspire and inform other national genome projects, and aid the development of crucial genomic literacy and skills across the globe, inspiring and training a new generation of scientists to use these tools to tackle the biggest threats to mankind: climate change, disease, and food security.

Why Bauhinia?
The flower of Bauhinia blakeana was adopted as the emblem of Hong Kong in 1965 and, since 1997, has been part of the flag of the Hong Kong SAR. The tree was first discovered by a French missionary, Father Jean-Marie Delavay, in the 1880s, growing on the West of Hong Kong Island.  The missionary collector subsequently propagated it in the grounds of the nearby Pokfulam Sanatorium, and from there it was introduced to the Hong Kong Botanic Gardens and across the world. Originally described as a new species in 1908, it was subsequently named after the Hong Kong governor Sir Henry Blake, who had a strong interest in botany. The hybrid origin and the parentage of Bauhinia blakeana remains enigmatic. In 1903 the Botanical and Afforestation Department reported "The mysterious origin of the tree and its magnificent flowers at once arrest the interest. … So far, all efforts to identify them with any foreign species have failed". Studies using individual genetic markers— ancestral footprints in the plant’s DNA — have shown that the species is likely a hybrid of two local species, Bauhinia variegata and Bauhinia purpurea, but this has yet to be confirmed at a genomic scale. Further, this unique plant, with its showy tree that flowers much longer and more intensely than its related species, can reveal many other biological secrets concerning its own characteristic and those of other plant species.

Why Genomics?
The human genome project, completed just under 15 years ago, cost ~3 billion US dollars and took ten years to sequence the DNA of a human being. The technology has progressed so rapidly we can now sequence a plant such as Bauhinia for about a millionth of the cost and in a fraction of the time. The legacy of the human genome project is such that technology that was science fiction just a decade or two ago has become a routine part of scientific research and a common component of our medical toolkit. The cost is now is so low that there have already been examples of community funded genome projects in other parts of the world. For example, the Puerto Rican parrot, one of the most endangered species in the world and iconic emblem symbol of the Caribbean island, was sequenced solely through local funding in 2012 to aid the captive breeding program.

Hong Kong has made key contributions to the field field of genomics, local researchers making key breakthroughs in circulating DNA testing, and since 2010 hosting the world’s largest sequencing centre at BGI Hong Kong. Genomics is predicted to produce the biggest "big data" over the next 10 years, and despite Hong Kong being world-leading in producing technologies and data, there is very little awareness and training to capitalise on this. Understanding of the cutting edge work in this rapidly growing field by the Hong Kong public is very poor, with little local awareness as to what it entails, and how it will be soon impacting upon all of their lives. To maximise the benefits to the Hong Kong economy and healthcare system of what will be the growth industry defining the 21st century, a new generation needs to be trained to capitalise on the potential resources here. We’d like to inspire a future generation of genomics data analysts to make Hong Kong a world leader in this field.

What We Need & What You Get

We need your money to kickstart the first "made in Hong Kong genome project, enabling the collection of the necessary data, and inspiring students and others to join this endeavour, learning the skills and what is involved in putting together a genome project.

• Accomplishing the outlined goals requires funding to cover the chemicals and components for producing the sequencing data for the project. The rest of the labour and analysis costs will be carried out by the contributing team and by BGI Hong Kong and CUHK for free.

• This is a community project, and we want the community to contribute by finding and reporting specimens, and in assembling the genome (see below).

The Impact

• Educate the public and help train a new generation of genomics experts in Hong Kong and beyond, able to capitalize and contribute to a new scientific revolution.

• Making all of the outputs of the project immediately open allows them to be immediately used by others and integrated into educational resources such as wikipedia.

• This will be the first species in the genus to be sequenced, helping evolutionary biologists resolve where these species fit in the tree of life.

• Bauhinia is a potential treasure trove for medical research. Previous research has found antibacterial, antidiabetic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-diarrheal, anti-cancerous, kidney-protective, anti-ulcer and thyroid hormone-regulating properties of many of these species, and characterising the genes is an important step in developing potential new drugs for these conditions.
• Hybrid genomes are very difficult to study, and this will be an important case study on how to carry out and improve this technological challenge, so that future hybrid organisms can be more easily conquered.

Risks & Challenges

• This is an ambitious project as plant genomes are very difficult to assemble, and a sequencing a hybrid is even more of a challenge.

• This is only a draft-quality genome, so more study is needed to produce a high-quality draft. Hopefully this project will be a springboard to enable that.

• To address these challenges, the scientists involved have an established track record working with Bauhinia and plant genomes, and BGI has sequenced and assembled hundreds of plant genomes, many much larger and more challenging than Bauhinia.

Other Ways You Can Help