About GGI

The Museum has always prepared emerging scientists to investigate life, in all its fascinating forms. The Global Genome Initiative continues this tradition. We attract the brightest minds and increase the museum’s ability to train pre- and postdoctoral students.

Equally important, we are introducing preteens and teens to genomics through our exhibitions, school programs, and award-winning internship program, Youth engagement through Science (YES!). These are transformative experiences that open their minds to the power and possibilities of science careers.

Researchers from a variety of disciplines are studying the plant and animal samples we gather, today and far into the future. We are preserving them in huge sub-zero freezers, in perpetuity.

The National Museum of Natural History's biorepository can hold more than 4 million samples. As the tools for decoding genomes improve, researchers can return to these collections to extract new information.

Collaboration is essential, which is why the Global Genome Initiative helped to organize an international network of biorepositories, designed to be a one-stop index to all scientifically-relevant genomic samples on Earth. As of March 2020, the expanding network already has nearly 100 partners; they are on every continent except Antarctica.

One of the biggest roadblocks to non-human genomics research is finding information. Do samples exist? What do we know about them? And, most importantly, what are we missing?

The Global Genome Initiative has built a portal that aggregates information on available samples to accelerate discovery. An ecologist studying elephant conservation in Kenya will have access to the same information as a researcher at the Smithsonian's National Zoo. Each can pursue his own questions.

As our collaborators collect samples and sequence and analyze genomes at high-tech facilities, like the Smithsonian's Laboratories of Analytical Biology, all the data will become available through the Global Genome Biodiversity Network's data portal and the International Nucleotide Database Collaboration sites.

Smithsonian scientists possess an unparalleled wealth of knowledge about Earth's flora and fauna. They are experts on the Tree of Life and know which organisms to collect. Surprisingly, we only need to sample a small fraction of the planet's species in order to vastly improve our knowledge of its genomic diversity.

Collecting will begin in the areas where species are concentrated: biodiversity-rich ecosystems, marine and terrestrial research observatories, botanical gardens, and zoos. Participating countries will select which native specimens to gather and determine where and how best to preserve them.

GGI partners will gather and provide access to samples, while respecting the rights of sovereign nations and adhering to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits.

Genomics is increasingly an important part of how the world defines and studies organisms. GGI's push to inspire and train the next generation of genomics researchers is critical.

In tandem with Youth Engagement through Science (YES!), the Smithsonian's college career-path internship program that encourages high school students to study STEM related courses, GGI helped to create a second year YES! program called YES! Global Genome Initiative. YES! Global Genome Initiative is a competitive summer program where participants work closely with Smithsonian scientists and are immersed in cutting edge academic research using state-of-the-art technology focused on DNA sequencing and genomics science.

Green plants are one of the most diverse groups of life on Earth. Since the Egyptian Pharaohs started the world's first arboretum, the importance of preserving the diversity of plant life has been understood. Today, all across the world, green houses, arboretums, and seed banks are working to preserve plant diversity. GGI helps to take their missions to the next level with its project: GGI Gardens.

GGI Gardens, a network of national and international partnerships, collects genome-quality tissue samples of different plants from around the world. With the aim to cryopreserve at least one species from each of the taxonomic families, and at least half of the genera on Earth. The project is ambitious, but through partnerships, a permanent record of plant diversity will be created.

DNA preservation and sequencing technology is improving at an astounding speed and The Global Genome Initiative (GGI) is working to evaluate the effectiveness of these new innovations. For example, GGI tested a new form of 'long-range DNA sequencing', one form of reading a full DNA sequence, a method that has the potential to be a break-through in how we read DNA.

To test the effectiveness of this technology, samples were sent to Dovetail Genomics for sequencing, and GGI's research staff analyzed the results. The results are promising, and evaluation of the technology continues to see how well the technology can robustly, routinely, and under diverse conditions read DNA.

Genomics requires commitment to innovation, and GGI is leading the way.

Across Appalachia and in many developing nations, abandoned coal mines drain dangerously-high levels of manganese into the waterways. Former Smithsonian Post-Doctoral Fellow Dominique Chaput studied the microbes that remove pollutants from the poisoned water by helping convert dissolved manganese into an insoluble mineral form.

Chaput identified a number of microorganisms, bacteria, fungi, and algae, that kick-start this transformation of manganese to figure out just how they do it. By comparing microbe genetic profiles, it is possible to uncover the pathways and mechanisms responsible for converting the dissolved metal compounds to solid minerals and identify which species do it best. These results, along with Mother Nature's help, can inform how we restore contaminated and polluted environments.