The Office of the Central Government Organizational Reform Commission approved the establishment of the Beijing Institute of Genomics（BIG）, Chinese Academy of Sciences on November 28, 2003. The institute was formed by integrating some employees from the "Beijing Genomic Institute（BGI）" (established in July 1999) on the basis of the "Human Genome Center of the Institute of Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences" (established in August 1998). On November 13, 2019, the Central Government Organizational Reform Commission approved the addition of the name "China National Center for Bioinformation (CNCB)" to the BIG. In April 2024, the Party Committee of the Chinese Academy of Sciences appointed the leadership team of the National Bioinformatics Center (hereinafter referred to as "the Center"). The current director of the Center is Prof. YANG Yungui.
The center primarily undertakes the unified submission, centralized storage, security management, and open sharing of China's biological information big data, as well as supporting cutting-edge interdisciplinary research and translational applications. It extensively engages in international cooperation to promote global biological information sharing and governance.
Based on the forefront of discipline development and major national demands, the center has successively established two key laboratories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, namely "Genome Sciences & Information" and "Genomics and Precision Medicine", as well as an "Institute-level Center for Innovation in Genome Technology ". In June 2019, it received joint approval from the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance to establish the " National Genomics Data Center (NGDC) ". In April 2024, to accelerate the comprehensive transformation and construction of the CNCB, seven scientific research departments were established, including the Computational Biology Department, Data Resource Department, Tool Development Department, Application Development Department, Information Security Department, Bioinformatics Service Department, and Operation and Maintenance Department.
Over the years, the center has participated in and completed the Human Genome Project (HGP) and the Haplotype Map Project (HapMap), both of which have significant international influence. It has independently completed the Chinese Super Hybrid Rice Genome Project and led the completion of the National Natural Science Foundation of China's major research program on "the mechanism of polygenic action in microevolution". The center has been involved in numerous major scientific research tasks assigned by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and other institutions. It has published over 2,200 SCI papers in international high-level academic journals such as Cell, Nature, Science, Nature Genetics, Nature Cell Biology, Nature Medicine, Nature Communications, and PNAS. The center has received 3 national awards such as the State Natural Science Award, and over 40 provincial and ministerial awards such as the Beijing Science and Technology Progress Award. It has been granted 99 patents and 163 software copyrights. The center has achieved a series of important scientific and technological innovations in original innovation in basic research, core key technology research and development, and scientific database construction and management. Several of its achievements have been selected as one of the Top Ten Scientific Advancements in China in 2017, 2020, and 2023, as well as one of the Top Ten Advancements in Life Sciences in China in 2023, and included in the "Frontiers of Basic Research in China" series published by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Natural Science Foundation of China to lead breakthroughs in key frontier fields.
Focusing on the construction of the center, an omics data resource system encompassing over 100 databases across 9 categories has been established, recognized by the international authoritative journal "Nucleic Acids Research" as one of the "major global biological data centers". Among them, the Genomics Sequencing Archive (GSA), a repository of raw omics data, has amassed nearly 60PB of biological data and has been designated/recognized by international publishing groups such as Elsevier, Wiley, and Springer Nature. In 2023, it was selected as a core global biological data resource, facilitating the unified management and open sharing of omics data in China's life sciences and promoting in-depth exchanges and cooperation between China and the international community. The 2019 Novel Coronavirus Information Database has been established to track and integrate the latest global virus genome data in real time, dynamically monitoring the variation, transmission, and evolution of COVID-19. It provides over 20 billion data downloads for visitors from 182 countries/regions, offering robust scientific and technological data support for China and the global fight against COVID-19 through science and technology. This work was included in the white paper "China's Action to Combat COVID-19" issued by the State Council. In May 2022, entrusted by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the center undertook the task of managing and backing up national human genetic resource information. It established an integrated platform for the management, backup, and sharing of national human genetic resource information, enabling one-time submission and multi-system sharing of China's human genetic resource information. This provides a convenient channel for researchers to back up and share human genetic resource information data.
The Center, in collaboration with the Chinese Society of Genetics, co-hosts the English academic journal "Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics," which was founded in 2003. It publishes high-quality manuscripts from around the world in the fields of genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics, as well as related areas. The journal is currently a core journal in both the Chinese Science Citation Database (CSCD) and the Chinese Science and Technology Paper and Citation Database (CSTPCD). It is indexed in databases such as SCIE, PubMed/MEDLINE, and Scopus, and is funded by the "China Excellence Action Plan for Scientific and Technological Journals" (2019-2028).
In October 2018, the Center, in collaboration with four scientific research institutions from Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand, initiated the establishment of the International Biodiversity and Health Big Data Alliance (BHBD Alliance for short). It has since grown to include 37 member units from 18 countries, building an international cooperation network for big data on biodiversity and health.
The center places great emphasis on talent team building and has introduced a group of leading talents and outstanding young talents. In 2020, it was approved as a national innovation talent training demonstration base. As of March 2025, there are 37 senior professional and technical personnel, 32 associate senior professional and technical personnel; there is 1 foreign academician of the European Academy of Sciences, 3 recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, 2 recipients of the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars, 5 candidates selected for the National Hundred, Thousand, and Ten Thousand Talent Project, and 3 recipients of the Beijing Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars.
The center currently offers doctoral and master's degree programs in two primary disciplines: Biology and Basic Medicine, as well as doctoral and master's degree programs in three secondary disciplines: bioinformatics, genomics, and precision medicine. Additionally, it has a postdoctoral research station for the primary discipline of biology. As of November 2024, there are 362 graduate students enrolled, including 193 doctoral students (including 2 international students) and 169 master's students.
The center is leading a series of major scientific research tasks, including the strategic leading science and technology projects of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, "Precision Health Research of Chinese Population Driven by Multi-dimensional Big Data" and "Research and Development of Core Technologies and Systems for Biological Big Data", as well as key special projects under the National Key Research and Development Program, such as "Research on Key Technologies of Biosafety", "Frontier Biotechnology", "Research and Development of Basic Scientific Research Conditions and Major Scientific Instruments and Equipment", and "Stem Cells and Organ Repair".
Looking ahead, the center will adhere to the concept of "building, operating, and serving simultaneously", focusing on national strategic needs. Relying on the infrastructure of the center in Zhangjiakou, it will establish a data resource system and a multilingual innovative intelligent ecosystem, strengthen the construction of core data resources and autonomous and controllable software systems, focus on the research and development of AI biological data corpus bases, algorithm tools, and large models, build an international biological big data cooperation network, and continuously enhance the center's data storage, management, and application capabilities, providing information and technical support for life science research and the development of the biological industry.
