Wellcome Sanger Institute

The Wellcome Sanger Institute stands on the Wellcome Genome Campus near the village of Hinxton, just outside Cambridge. The campus covers 55 acres and hosts around 1,300 staff, most of whom work at the institute. It shares the site with the European Bioinformatics Institute and the Wellcome Trust Conference Centre. The institute was founded in 1992 and named after Frederick Sanger, a double Nobel laureate. It began as a large-scale DNA sequencing centre for the Human Genome Project and made the single largest contribution to the human genome’s reference sequence. The institute expanded its work in 2000 to study the role of genetics in health and disease. It now employs about 900 people and runs six research programmes: Somatic Genomics, Cellular Genomics, Human Genetics, Parasites and Microbes, Generative Genomics, and the Tree of Life. The institute shares data openly and collaborates widely, with over 90 percent of its research papers involving partners outside the institute. Its sequencing teams process millions of DNA samples each week, producing around ten billion bases of raw sequence data daily. Visitors can tour the campus and meet scientific staff. The institute runs a public engagement programme that welcomes more than 1,500 students, teachers and community groups each year. Guided visits include access to laboratories, data centres and staff amenities. The campus also features a major extension opened in 2005, which added new labs and facilities. The institute’s work supports global efforts like the 1000 Genomes Project and the Darwin Tree of Life Project.