The Coriell Institute does have two cell lines from Clint, which can be used to work out any kinks and gaps in the chimp sequence. But living cell lines are not the perfect way to preserve a genome, because they mutate and change. They can also die, which is what happened to a few cell lines created during the publicly funded Human Genome Project. The anonymity of the donors meant new lines could not be established, and the lack of back-up cell lines caused trouble when unexpected patterns appeared in the DNA sequence, says Eichler. Ideally, researchers would like to have both cell lines and a variety of frozen samples from each animal that has been sequenced. This would not only preserve the original genome for checking, but also allow researchers to compare gene expression in different tissues, for instance.

These kinds of precautions are especially important for genetically variable creatures such as chimps. Most of the other animals being sequenced come from highly inbred lines, meaning that if the original individual dies, other animals with virtually identical genomes will remain available for study.

The National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, is attempting to archive tissue from sequenced animals, says Jane Peterson, director of the institute’s comparative sequencing programme. But she thinks the real priority should be to reduce the cost of sequencing.

She points out that sequencing the human genome cost several hundred million dollars. Sequencing Clint cost only about $18 million. If prices continue to fall this steeply, sequencing other individuals will be so cheap that preserving biological material from the first individual of a species to be sequenced will be unnecessary, she says. “We are pushing for the $1000 genome, then the $100 genome.”

Text for this article, except for the wisecrack about stuffing Craig Venter, comes from a press release by New Scientist.