BGI was founded in 1999 with the vision of using genomics to benefit mankind and has since become the largest genomic organization in the world. With a focus on research and applications in the healthcare, agriculture, conservation and environmental fields, BGI has a proven track record of innovative, high profile research, which has generated over 2,137 publications, many in top-tier journals such as Nature and Science. The company also contributes to scientific communication by publishing the international research journal GigaScience.