Illumina and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance to sequence the Frozen Zoo collection

Illumina will sequence up to 4,000 samples from the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's Frozen Zoo, representing about 1,300 species, and selected samples will support multiomic research with data shared with SDZWA and its collaborators.

Illumina announced an agreement with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance to sequence material from the Frozen Zoo. The company will generate whole-genome sequencing data for up to 4,000 samples representing about 1,300 species. The Frozen Zoo is a 50-year-old biobank that holds over 11,500 samples from roughly 4,000 individual animals and includes cells, embryos and gametes stored in liquid nitrogen. A subset of samples will be used for multiomic research aimed at wildlife medicine, evolutionary biology and biodiversity preservation. Key details: - Illumina will sequence up to 4,000 unique samples from the Frozen Zoo, covering about 1,300 species. - The Frozen Zoo holds over 11,500 samples from roughly 4,000 individual animals and spans mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, plants, marine invertebrates and insects. - Illumina will generate whole-genome sequencing data and make those data available to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and its collaborators. - Selected samples will be used for multiomic research to explore genetic diversity, population history, and aspects of wildlife medicine. - The collaboration will also work to validate multiomic workflows for non-human samples. - Illumina’s iConserve program has previously supported projects such as koala genome sequencing, lemur conservation in Madagascar, and elephant genetic mapping in Africa. Summary: The partnership will create a substantial genomic resource linking decades of preserved wildlife material with current sequencing technologies. Generated data and selected multiomic analyses are intended to support conservation research and the validation of methods for non-human samples. Timeline details for the sequencing campaign were not specified in the announcement.