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  • Introduction
  • The Founders
  • Milestones of Research
  • International Collaboration

BGI Brings China into
International Genomics Collaboration

  • Huanming Yang and Sydney Brenner
    Huanming Yang, Sydney Brenner
  • Beijing joins the International Genome Project in 1999
    International HGP Begins in Beijing, China
  • Sulston
    Sir John Sulston, a Nobel Prize Laureate and the British HGP leader, said, “I especially salute the Chinese colleagues, who have contributed so much to the international genome effort … and affirmed its common ownership by all humankind.” Shown here in 2002.
  • HGP-Consortium
    International HGP Consortium, 10 May 2002
  • proclamation
    The international HGP was officially closed with the “Joint Proclamation by the Heads of Government of Six Countries Regarding the Completion of the Human Genome Sequence” on 14 April, 2003
  • 2005-10-26 International HapMap Consortium
    International HapMap Consortium, 2005
  • Watson
    The first International Conference on Genomics was held in Hangzhou, James Dewey Watson paid a visit, 2006. Seen here is Jian Wang with James Watson.
  • sequencers
    BGI Sequencers 2015-2018
  • collaborations
    Collaborative Projects Contributed to by BGI
  • Global Collaboration of CNGB
    Global Collaboration of CNGB
  • Consortium
    BGI is a member of the International Genome Sequencing Consortium
  • NIFTY-CMDB
    This work analyzed whole-genome sequencing data from 141,431 Chinese women generated for non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT). We use these data to characterize the population genetic structure and to investigate genetic associations with maternal and infectious traits. Published in Science, October 4, 2018
  • Public-Welfare
  • Gates-Foundation
    In 2012 BGI and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to begin immediate collaboration on global health and agricultural development. “BGI greatly welcomes this opportunity to partner with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to bring the benefit of genomics research to our global society,” said Dr. Huanming Yang, Chairman and Co-Founder of BGI
  • Smithsonian
    CNGB has established a public-welfare, open, supportive and leading platform which operates to principles and guidelines that enable the exchange and sharing of data and genetic resources with other major databases including NCBI, EMBL-EBI and DDBJ, and with biobanks including the Svalbard Seed Vault, Heidelberg University, Smithsonian Institute
  • Tsunami
    2004 BGI sent a team to Thailand to conduct DNA identification of victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami
  • Tibet
    2017 Tibet Autonomous Region CDC and BGI carried out cooperation on prevention and treatment of major infectious diseases such as echinococcosis
  • 2014 Launched the Uncle Spring program to provide free HLA matching and genetic counseling services for 100 thalassemia patients
    2014 Launched the Uncle Spring program to provide free HLA matching and genetic counseling services for 100 thalassemia patients
Francis Collins, Huanming Yang, Eric Lander

Huanming “Henry” Yang is one of BGI’s co-founders.  Henry Yang returned to China in 1994, after a PhD and postdoctoral studies abroad in Denmark and the US, with a goal – to get China competing with developed nations in big science, through DNA sequencing and genomics.  Henry joined together with scientists who had trained with Maynard Olson in Seattle to launch a new genomics company, BGI.  The team had convinced Olson, one of the founders of the Human Genome Project, to consider letting China join in the international coalition of countries attempting to sequence and assemble a human genome for the first time – a truly massive undertaking that would require help from all corners of the globe.  In Sept. 1999, Henry addressed the International Strategy Meeting on Human Genome Sequencing, to convince them to let China contribute to the efforts. But without funding already secured, he had to lie to the group about their readiness.  Within months, however, Henry had managed to use his friendships and connections to secure the necessary funds.  The Chinese Academy of Sciences also agreed to fund three Chinese sequencing centers, with BGI getting almost half of the funds.  BGI was off to the races, with China eventually contributing 1% of the draft genome to the Human Genome Project, and they have not stopped sequencing since.

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