News Release

BGI and National Wolfberry Engineering Research Center launch Chinese wolfberry genome project

Business Announcement

BGI Shenzhen

July 16th, 2011 – BGI (formerly known as Beijing Genomics Institute), the largest genomic organization in the world, and National Wolfberry Engineering Research Center of Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences jointly announced to initiate "Chinese Wolfberry Genome Project". This project will provide important scientific values for increasing wolfberry production with high yields and good quality, and also contribute to studies on the abundant gene resource relating to its pharmacological effect.

Wolfberry, commercially called goji berry, is a precious Chinese medicinal herb, which is characterized by its high nutrient value and antioxidant content. Cultivated along the Yellow River for more than 600 years, Ningxia wolfberries come from Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of north-central China, earning a reputation throughout Asia for premium quality sometimes described commercially as "red diamonds".

Traditional wolfberry researches only focus on basic biology studies including the extraction and separation of the active component, pharmacology, genetic engineering, cultivation and so on. It is difficult to unravel the species' evolution and the global distribution characteristics. However, wolfberry genome research lays the foundation of the studies on the gene resource, species genetic diversity, variations of ecological factor, among others, which will facilitate applications in exploring high-quality germplasm resources, breeding and cultivating, producing and managing.

Prof. Guangrong Liu, principal of Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, commented, "I believe with BGI's resources in genome sequencing and bioinformatics, combined with our rich experience in the biological studies of wolfberry, this project will progress with success in the future."

Prof. Jian Wang, the president of BGI, said, "BGI is gratified to provide a platform for researchers and scientists to share their hands-on experiences and findings in their respective fields of interest. With our dedication in genomics research and bioinformatics application, I sincerely hope that BGI continues to make more contributions in agriculture development. " .

Based on the next-generation high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics technologies, BGI is the only genomic organization with an extensive focus on agricultural genomics research. "Together with the collaborators, so far BGI has initiated 505 plant and animal genome projects, completed fine or draft genome maps for over 100 species and finished the sequencing of about 200 species, including oyster, Arabian Camel, Crested Ibis, goose and so on. Many other genomes are in process of active sequencing." BGI announced at its 2nd Annual Conference of "1000 Plant & Animal Reference Genomes Project".

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About National Wolfberry Engineering Research Center

Based on the wolfberry resource advantages and scientific advantages, National Wolfberry Engineering Research Center takes market as the guidance and persisting in technological innovation as the support to promote the development of wolfberry industrialization, establish a platform for scientific and technological support, and optimize the extending mechanism of the wolfberry new species, new technologies, and new achievements. The goal of the center is to improve the wolfberry industrialization development completely, develop the agricultural products with the traditional advantages and related processing industry greatly to achieve sustainable development of wolfberry industry.

About BGI

BGI (formerly known as Beijing Genomics Institute) was founded in 1999 and has since become the largest genomic organization in the world. With a focus on research and applications in the healthcare, agriculture, conservation and bio-energy fields, BGI has a proven track record of innovative, high profile research, which has generated over 178 publications in top-tier journals such as Nature and Science. BGI's distinguished achievements have made a great contribution to the development of genomics in both China and the world. Our goal is to make leading-edge genomics highly accessible to the global research community by leveraging industry's best technology, economies of scale and expert bioinformatics resources. BGI and its affiliates, BGI Americas and BGI Europe, have established partnerships and collaborations with leading academic and government research institutions, as well as global biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. At BGI, we have built the infrastructure and scientific expertise to enable our customers and collaborators to quickly migrate from samples to discovery. For more information, visit www.bgisequence.com

Contact Information:

Guoli Dai
Wolfberry Engineering Research Center
Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences
dgl2006swfc@163.com
http://www.nxaas.com/

Bicheng Yang
Director of Global Marketing Department
BGI
+86-755-25273450
yangbicheng@genomics.cn
www.bgisequence.com


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