OUR HISTORY
With support from Senator Pete Domenici, NCGR was founded in 1994 as an independent non-profit institute for discovery-driven research in computational biology, medicine, and bioinformatics. The Center's founding mandate was to share and analyze DNA sequences generated by the Human Genome Project at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
In 1997 NCGR established and sold a subsidiary, Molecular Informatics, which became Celera Diagnostics.
In 2000 NCGR's 32,000 square–foot research facility was completed.
Since 1997, in collaboration with research communities around the United States, NCGR develops web-based information resources. Examples include the Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR) and the Legume Information System (LIS).
In 2007, NCGR created the New Mexico Genome Center.
THE NEW MEXICO GENOME CENTER
In 2006 and 2007 the New Mexico Legislature and Governor Richardson supported legislation sponsored by Senator Carlos Cisneros and Representative Nick Salazar that provided funds to create the New Mexico Genome Center. In particular, the bill provided funds for NCGR to purchase an Illumina genome analyzer in partnership with New Mexico Tech. This event marked the start of a new era at NCGR, with a focus on genome sequencing and analysis to identify the causes of diseases and traits in humans and crops. Ongoing projects include genome sequencing of Phytophthora capsici, a major pathogen of vegetable crops; Soybean, and the Schizophrenia Genome Project. The NM Genome Center currently houses 8 Solexa - Illumina genome analyzers and advanced computational resources.
