Genome Reference Consortium

The Genome Reference Consortium (GRC) is a group of educational institutes which was formed to improve the representation of reference genomes. At the time the human reference was initially described, it was clear that some regions were recalcitrant to closure with existing technology. The main reason for improving the reference assemblies are that they are the cornerstones upon which all whole genome studies are based (i.e. the 1000 Genomes Project).

Initially the focus lies with the Human and the Mouse reference genomes with additional model organisms to be added at a later time. The goal of the Consortium is to correct the small number of regions in the reference that are currently misrepresented, to close as many remaining gaps as possible and to produce alternative assemblies of structurally variant loci when necessary.

External links

• Genome Reference Consortium

Members

• The European Bioinformatics Institute
• The Genome Institute at Washington University
• The National Center for Biotechnology Information
• The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute