Beijing Genomics Institute - History

History

BGI was created in 1999. Initially it participated in the Human Genome Project as China's representative. After the project was completed BGI moved to Hangzhou in exchange for funding from the local government. The Rice genome was sequenced in 2002 which became a cover story in Science. In 2003 the SARS virus was sequenced and a detection kit quickly created. Later the first Asian genome was sequenced. In 2010 BGI dramatically expanded its sequencing capacity.

BGI states that in 2007 "the organization’s headquarters relocated to Shenzhen and founded the first citizen-managed, non-profit research institution in China". In 2008, "BGI-Shenzhen was officially recognized as a state agency."

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, Zhejiang University. The Watson Institute is intended to become a major center for research and education in East Asia modeled after the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

BGI Shenzhen received certification for meeting ISO9001:2008 requirements for design and provision of high-throughput sequencing services.

BGI will receive US$1.5 billion in “collaborative funds” over the next 10 years from the China Development Bank.

In 2010, BGI Americas was established and set up its main office in Boston. BGI Europe was established in Copenhagen.

In 2011 the BGI had 4,000 scientists and technicians with numbers predicted to increase.

BGI states that it has collaborations with fifteen out of the top twenty global pharmaceutical companies. BGI provides commercial science, health, agricultural, and informatics services.

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.