Zoonomia
The Zoonomia Project represents a groundbreaking international collaboration aimed at uncovering the genomic basis of both shared and specialized traits in mammals. This initiative invites researchers from the global scientific community to utilize its extensive data and contribute to the fields of human medicine and biodiversity conservation through the power of comparative genomics.
Creative Direction
The Zoonomia Project’s website serves as a comprehensive open-source repository, offering genomic assemblies, alignments, conservation scores, and phylogeny files of mammalian species. This database is open-source to researchers aiming to enhance the health of all mammals, including humans. Our teams agreed this data should be a learning tool for the general public as well. With this audience in mind, the repository structure is hidden within an engaging and interactive visual experience on the website, designed to spark curiosity and facilitate discovery.
The name 'Zoonomia' is derived from the Greek words for "animal" and "governing laws," aptly encapsulating the project's overarching goal. This choice also nods to the influential writings of Erasmus Darwin, reflecting the project's deep roots in evolutionary thought. The visual design of the Zoonomia Project's materials draws inspiration from Darwin-era etchings, blending these with abstract representations of the genome. This stylistic choice connects historical scientific exploration with modern genomic research, creating a visually rich and intellectually cohesive identity.
At the core of the Zoonomia Project is the Mammalian Tree, which includes 240 mammalian species. This interactive feature allows users to explore each species through engaging tools and a color-coded list of metrics. Researchers can delve deeper by selecting a specific species to access detailed genomic data. This user-friendly interface facilitates exploration and targeted research, making complex genomic information accessible and manageable.
The launch of Zoonomia drew attention from the greater scientific community and beyond. Never before had such a sprawling amount of data been given a platform with broad accessibility and thoughtful user experience. The data was almost immediately put to use during Covid as a means to correlate the spread in humans relative to all mammals. It was nominamted for a Webby Award in the Science category and won the 'Crafted by Code' award presented by Wordpress with a feature on the WPEngine site where Project Director Ronnie Peters joins me to explain the process behind the design.
