Yang Huanming

Biography

BGI in November 1999[2] in Beijing, China as a non-governmental independent research institute in order to participate in the Human Genome Project as China's representative.[3][4] After the project was completed, funding dried up. So BGI moved to Hangzhou in exchange for funding from the Hangzhou Municipal Government. In 2002, BGI sequenced the rice genome which was a cover story in the journal Science. In 2003 BGI decoded the SARS virus genome and created a kit for detection of the virus. In 2003, BGI Hangzhou and the Zhejiang University founded a new research institute, the James D. Watson Institute of Genome Sciences, Zhejiang University. The Watson Institute was intended to become a major center for research and education in East Asia modelled after the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in the US. In 2007 BGI’s headquarters relocated to Shenzhen as "the first citizen-managed, non-profit research institution in China". Yu Jun left BGI at this time purportedly selling his stake to the other 3 founders for a nominal sum. In 2008, BGI-Shenzhen was officially recognized as a state agency.In 2008, BGI published the first human genome of an Asian individual.    

Research Interest

 In 2010 BGI Shenzhen was certified as meeting the requirements of ISO9001:2008 standard for the design and provision of high-throughput sequencing services,[7] The same year BGI bought 128 sequencing machines and claimed to be the world's largest genome center. In 2010 it was reported that BGI would receive US$1.5 billion in “collaborative funds” over the next 10 years from the China Development Bank. In 2010, BGI Americas was established with its main office in Cambridge, Massachusetts and BGI Europe was established in Copenhagen.