| Established | 1993 |
|---|---|
| Field of Research | Genomics, Bioinformatics |
| Director | Richard K Wilson |
| Location | St. Louis, Missouri |
| Affiliations | Washington University School of Medicine |
| Website | genome.wustl.edu |
The Genome Institute[1] (formerly The Genome Center and the Genome Sequencing Center) at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, is one of three NIH funded large-scale sequencing centers in the United States.[2] Affiliated with Washington University School of Medicine, The Genome Institute is creating, testing and implementing new approaches to the study of genomics with the goal of understanding human health and disease, as well as evolution and the biology of other organisms.
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Founded in 1993, The Genome Institute began as a key player in the Human Genome Project, ultimately contributing more than 25 percent of the finished sequence.[3] Following completion of the working draft of the human genome in 2000, and the finished human genome sequence in 2003, The Genome Institute turned its sequencing and analysis skills to determining the genomes of many other organisms in order to provide the first reference sequences for these species.[4]
The Genome Institute employs over 300 full-time faculty and staff from a variety of disciplines. Core staff include:
Richard K Wilson, Ph.D., Director: Dr. Wilson is an expert in molecular genetics and large-scale DNA sequence analysis, and his laboratory at the Washington University School of Medicine is among the world’s leaders in genome analysis. They have sequenced and analyzed billions of bases of DNA from the genomes of bacteria, yeast, roundworms, plants, vertebrates, primates and humans.[6]
Elaine Mardis, Ph.D., Co-Director: Dr. Mardis’ work leading the Technology Development group at The Genome Institute has played a pivotal role in the evaluation, optimization and application of new sequencing instrumentation, chemistry and molecular biology toward improved genome sequencing cost, throughput and quality.[7]
George Weinstock, Ph.D., Associate Director: Dr. Weinstock applies high-throughput DNA sequencing, genome-wide analysis, bioinformatics, and other genetic methods to the study of human, model organisms and microbial genomes. He is a leader of the Human Microbiome Project, studying the collection of microbes that colonize the human body.[8]
Timothy Ley, Ph.D., Associate Director: Dr. Ley is a hematologist, oncologist and cancer biologist. Dr. Ley’s research group was one of the first to focus on the reference sequence of the human genome to systematically identify the mutations responsible for the initiation and progression of cancer, focusing primarily on acute myeloid leukemia (AML).[9]
Whole Genome Re-sequencing: The Whole Genome Re-sequencing Group focuses on developing and optimizing sample intake, production 'sequencing, and sequence analysis pipelines for human disease genomic research, with a major emphasis on cancer.
De Novo Assembly: The De Novo Assembly Group is responsible for taking the sequenced pieces of various species’ genomes and putting them together as contiguously and accurately as possible.
Microbial Genomics: The Microbial Genomics Group represents a range of activities from sequencing individual bacteria to population genomics studies of microbial species to analysis of complex metagenomic samples.
Targeted Re-sequencing: The Targeted Re-sequencing Group sequences specific regions of genomes using several different methods including PCR as well as hybrid selection techniques.
Transcriptomes: The Transcriptomes Group works on the various aspects of sequencing and analysis of transcriptomes, based on next-generation sequencing of RNA.
The Genome Institute makes all sequence data available to the research community, pending appropriate quality analysis. Some of this data is preliminary and is subject to omissions and errors. Data also changes based on the availability of new data and assembly versions.
As per the NHGRI’s data release policy, all users must acknowledge The Genome Institute as the data source.[10]
The Genome Institute’s Outreach Department was established in 2003 in response to the National Human Genome Research Institute’s Minority Action Plan.[11] Since its inception, Outreach has conducted activities that serve to educate K-12 students and the community at large regarding genomics and the role The Genome Institute plays in this field. Outreach has hosted thousands of patrons through tours, presentations, science fairs and various off-site visits. The department established Opportunities in Genomics Research whose purpose is to increase the number of underrepresented minorities who obtain Ph.D.s in the field of genomics/genetics. Two programs have been implemented under OGR, which provide research opportunities for undergraduates (Undergraduate Scholars) and recent college graduates (Extensive Study).
The Genome Institute is located on the Washington University School of Medicine campus in St. Louis, Missouri, at 4444 Forest Park Avenue. It is accessible by Metrolink (Central West End Station).
The Genome Institute has a separate data center located across the street at 222 Newstead Avenue. The $20 million, 16,000 square-foot data center was built with fully redundant power and cooling systems capable of housing over 100 racks of high-density computation and storage systems.
The Genome Institute's data center is the first "green" building on the School of Medicine's campus and has received the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold status by the U.S. Green Building Council.[12] The data center also houses a legacy 1,200-square-foot (110 m2) server room equipped with raised floors, redundant power and cooling.