On Sept. 13, 2018, the Genome 10K (G10K) announced the launch of the international Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP), and its first release of 15 new, high-quality reference genomes for 14 species representing all five vertebrate classes – mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes.

The mission of the VGP is to provide high-quality, near error-free, and complete genome assemblies of all 66,000 vertebrate species on Earth to address fundamental questions in biology, disease, and conservation.