Beijing Institute of Genomics (BIG) (simplified Chinese: 北京基因组研究所; traditional Chinese: 北京基因組研究所; pinyin: Běijīng Jīyīnzǔ Yánjiūsuǒ) is a genomics research center of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
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History
BIG was officially founded on November 28, 2003 by Yang Huanming, Yujun and others scientists.
Its predecessor was Human Genome Research Center of Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (CAS) which was founded on August 1998. The predecessor center participated in the International Human Genome Project (HGP) on behalf of China, and China became the sixth member states which took part in the Human Genome Project.
Besides the International Human Genome Project, other achievements of BIG included the participation of the HapMap Project; the completion of the Chinese Superhybrid Rice (Oryza sativa L. ssp. indica) Genome Project; the collaborations of the Silkworm Genome Project and the Chicken Genome Diversity Project.
In 2003, SARS virus became epidemic in China and BIG was the first to sequence SARS virus whole genome in China.
In 2007, BIG moved to ChaoYang District, Beijing.
Current
At present, BIG has a number of nearly two hundred faculty and staff members, including one Academia Sinica academician and one CAS academician and the number of graduated students is about two hundred.