Beijing Genomics Institute

The Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) was founded in 1998. It achieved international prominence as a center for sequencing the human genome. BGI completed one percent of the human genome for the Human Genome Project.

Today the BGI staff of 500 hundred, led by Director Yang Huanming (also known as Henry Yang), are in the forefront of genome research. In Spring 2003, BGI was one of the first laboratories in the world to sequence the SARS virus. Current research includes drug discovery and studying the genes of livestock and crops. A cooperative project with Danish partners focuses on the pig genome. BGI independently completed a working draft and detailed genetic map of Chinese super hybrid rice genome. This pioneering work was featured on the cover of Science magazine in April 2002. BGI also participated in international chicken genome project and sequenced silkworm genome in collaboration with North East Agriculture University in China.

The Institute has both a private and a public character. It receives funds both from private investors and the Chinese government. The laboratory is also the Bioinformatics Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Beijing Huada Genomics Research Center was the precursor of BGI.

In October 2003, The Beijing Genome Institute Hangzhou (Zhejiang) branch and Zhejiang University founded a new research institute, the James D. Watson Institute of Genome Sciences. The Watson Institute is intended to become a major center for research and education in East Asia modeled after the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.