BGI Group
Omics for All
- Founded in 1999 with a vision of using genomics to benefit mankind, BGI has become the largest genomics organisation in the world. With a focus on scientific research and applications in healthcare, agriculture, conservation, and environment.
- BGI has a proven track record of innovative and high-profile research and has published over 2,000 papers in top-tier science journals such as Nature and Science. BGI also contributes to the science communication by publishing its international research journal GigaScience. BGI’s goal is to make state-of-the-art genomics highly accessible to the global research community and life science markets by integrating the industry’s broadest array of leading technologies, including DNBSEQ™ sequencing platform, economies of scale, and expert bioinformatic resources. BGI also offers a wide portfolio of genetic testing products across major diseases, providing diagnostics and personalised healthcare services for international medical providers and patients.
- Headquartered in Shenzhen, China and with over 6000 employees worldwide, BGI’s services and solutions are available in more than 100 countries through major subsidiaries including BGI Research (life science research), BGI College (education), GigaScience (scientific journal), BGI Genomics (genetic testing services), FGI (forensics), MGI (instrumentation, technology and R&D), and BGI Health (personalised precision health services).
- Please visit the BGI Group official website www.genomics.cn (English: en.genomics.cn) for more information.
Quick Facts
- BGI, originally known as Beijing Genomics Institute, was founded in 1999 in order to participate in the Human Genome Project, considered one of the greatest scientific achievements of the twentieth century.
- Moved to Shenzhen in 2007, the company changed its name to BGI and expanded the business scope through new services.
- In 2013 BGI completed its acquisition of Complete Genomics, followed in 2017 with the successful listing of the for-profit sequencing services business BGI Genomics on the Shenzhen stock exchange.
- Neither BGI Group nor BGI Genomics is owned, funded or controlled by the Chinese government.
- BGI Group is owned by co-founders and core employees.
- Chairman/Cofounder: Jian Wang, Director/Chairman/Cofounder: Prof. Huanming Yang, Supervisor/Cofounder: Dr. Siqi Liu
Global Presence
BGI Organisations
BGI Research
BGI Research
BGI Research
BGI Research is dedicated to using the world class genomics platform to contribute to the public health. Relying on innovative integration of platforms to achieve major scientific breakthroughs in the basic research area and lead technology development, BGI Research has four major areas of focus: Personal genomics, Cancer, Reproductive health, and Molecular breeding.
BGI College
BGI Research
BGI Research
BGI College focuses on innovative education and training for multidisciplinary talents in bioscience and bioindustry. Programs include joint education, external training (bioinformatics training, medical related training & genetic counselor training) and public education (popular science education & summer internship). More than 100 PhD students and 300 MSc students have been trained.
GigaScience
BGI Research
GigaScience
GigaScience is an open-access open-data journal for the publication of all types of biological studies that use or create large-scale data sets. With the goal of revolutionizing data accessibility, dissemination, organization, and use, GigaScience has a unique format that integrates article publication with the data-hosting and cloud-computing resources. In three years GigaDB has stored over 194 datasets and 36TB data.
BGI Genomics
BGI Genomics
BGI Genomics
BGI Genomics provides a wide range of commercial next generation sequencing services and a broad portfolio of genetic tests for medical institutions, research institutions and other public and private partners. BGI Genomics’ mission is to leverage its genomics expertise in order to advance life science research and to improve human health by providing high quality, affordable genomics powered health solutions for everybody.
MGI
BGI Genomics
BGI Genomics
MGI specialises in R&D and manufacturing of proprietary instrumentation, medical devices, ancillary consumables and biological reagents e.g. genetic sequencers, mass spectrometers, medical imaging systems, and comprehensive solutions for life science research and applications. With the vision to “enable effective and affordable healthcare solutions for all”, MGI strives to be a leading innovator in life science technologies.
FGI
BGI Genomics
FGI
FGI, BGI's subsidiary specialised in forensics, provides accurate and affordable DNA genotyping services, and standardises the procedures for applying relevant technologies in the fields of human DNA identification, plant and animal identification and forensics science. Based on advanced BGI sequencing platform and database. FGI also focuses on the R&D of new technologies in forensic genomics, forensic pathology, and forensics.
BGI Milestones
BGI 20th Anniversary
On September 9, 2019, BGI celebrated its 20th anniversary. We thank all of you for being an integral part of this extraordinary journey, 20 years of genomic discovery and technological innovation.
Founding - Human Genome Project
- In 1990 the Human Genome Project (HGP) was formally launched.
- In 1997 the founding members of BGI decided to participate in the Human Genome Project from Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province, China.
- In November 1997, the co-founders of BGI delivered their strategic vision on contributing 1% of the sequencing to the International Human Genome Project, which gave birth to BGI.
- BGI was founded on September 9, 1999, in Beijing by Wang Jian, Yu Jun, Yang Huanming and Liu Siqi as a non-governmental independent research institute.
- BGI’s specific contribution to HGP was to sequence Chromosome 3 of the human genome.
- The HGP spent nearly US$3 billion to sequence the first human genome, and 15 years later it costs less than US$600 to generate a human genome a on BGI’s latest platform MGISEQ-T7.
- HGP ushered in a new era in medicine, but it also led to significant advances in the DNA sequencing technology.
World’s First Completion of the Draft of Rice Genome Sequence
- BGI completed a rice genome sequencing program that signifies a new beginning of species science and industrial research. BGI’s world’s first completion of the draft of rice genome sequence that contributed to the agricultural research in yields and food security of this one of the oldest crops in human history.
- Plant and animal genomics is one of the major focuses of BGI’s’ extensive research over the past two decade. BGI’s have published 149 papers on plant and animal genomics including 87 on animal genomics and 62 on plant genomics, which makes up 28% of the total number of papers published in the world on the plant and animal genomics and 31% of the total number of papers published on species.
Contribution to Fighting SARS
- BGI completed the first genome sequence of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus and soon developed the first diagnostic kit for SARS detection in 2003;
- In May 2003, BGI donated 300,000 SARS diagnostic kits for clinical application to the affected regions in need.
Gut Microbiome Study
BGI published a proof-of-principle metagenomics study in Nature on March 4, 2010, using short read sequencing to catalog and characterize the microbial genes present in the human gut. The work was listed as “Insights of the Decade” by Science. The study continues to achieve significant advances. BGI established pan-genome association analysis technology in 2012 revolutionising the disease clinical research. In 2019 BGI published 1,520 reference genomes from cultivated human gut bacteria enabling functional microbiome analyses.
China National GeneBank (CNGB)
- Driven by BGI’s strong advocacy, the National Development and Reform Commission and Shenzhen City Government funded the construction of CNGB in 2016. BGI is responsible for the construction and manages current operation of CNGB. As one of the national major strategic technological infrastructure, CNGB is a comprehensive open-access gene bank of biological genetic resource storage, reading, and utilisation.
- On September 22, 2016, the China National GeneBank operated by BGI was officially opened in Dapeng, Shenzhen covering over 47,500m2, with an integrated structure of “Three Banks and Two Platforms” consisting of a Biorepository, Bioinformatics Data Centre and Living Biobank, and a Digitalization Platform and Synthesis and Editing Platform. CNGB’s annual output capacity is 15 Pb, equivalent to the WGS data of about 150,000 people, and its annual processing capacity is 500,000 samples.
Synthetic Yeast Genome
Seven papers on the findings of an international yeast chromosome consortium study that BGI is heavily involved in were published in Science as the cover story and a special feature in the 2017 March issue. This project enables BGI to establish a high throughput automated synthetic biological platform and synthesize the first eukaryote which starts a new era of synthetic biology.
BGI Genomics Listed on Shenzhen Stock Exchange
On July 14, 2017, BGI Genomics, an independent division of BGI Group, announced its initial public offering (IPO), and was listed on the Shenzhen Chi-Next exchange, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (Trading code: 300676). BGI’s vision is using genomics to benefit the mankind.
Non-invasive Prenatal Genetic Screening (NIPT)
- Down Syndrome is a genetic occurrence caused by extra material in chromosome 21 that results in intellectual disability. The estimated incidence of Down Syndrome is between 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 1,100 live births worldwide, and 1 in 600 to 1 in 800 in China. BGI’s NIFTY® screening services have been made available for millions of families in China, and even funded by the governmental social healthcare insurance in many municipalities in China such as Hebei, Shenzhen, Fuyang, Changsha and more. As of Jul. 2019 BGI has provided more than 4.3 million expecting mothers with reliable genetic tests, among which 26,000 were tested positive for abnormalities. NIFTY ® test is available in more than 100 countries worldwide including Europe, Americas, Asia and Pacific.
- On October 4, 2018, BGI published groundbreaking research in the leading academic journal Cell on the largest study to date of the Chinese population. BGI analyzed the world’s largest set of genome data from pregnant women, a total 141,431 expecting mothers from across China. The genomic analyses from non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) revealed new genetic associations, patterns of viral infections, and history in Chinese populations.
Proprietary High-Throughput Genetic Sequencer
It cost US$3 billion over the course of 13 years to generate the first human genome sequence as part of the Human Genome Project back in 2003. 15 years later MGI, a subsidiary of BGI Group, introduced its newest model of genetic sequencer in October 2018, MGISEQ-T7, the most powerful next generation sequencer, taking production capacity of the instrument to a new level which can process 60 human genomes’ sequence within 24 hours and significantly reduce the sequencing cost down to US$600 per human genome. Based on its proprietary technology and perpetual drive for innovation MGI is the only Chinese company among the three clinical genetic sequencer producers in the world, bringing the power of choice and new applications to genomics markets all over the world. There are over 1200 MGI sequencers installed in 22 countries worldwide to date.
