This year marks the 30th anniversary of a landmark achievement in biology: the publication of the complete Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome sequence in 1996 - the first eukaryotic genome ever sequenced.
Since before the genome was even complete, SGD has served as the authoritative resource for yeast genomics. Over three decades, we’ve evolved from a simple sequence repository to a comprehensive biological knowledge hub, providing expert curation and multi-dimensional annotations that support researchers worldwide.
A special meeting, Life with 6000 Genes, takes place August 31 - September 1, 2026 to commemorate this milestone and the remarkable era of discovery it enabled.
To mark this anniversary, SGD team members have authored a retrospective chronicling our 32-year history, from the founding vision through today’s collaborative database ecosystem. The article will appear in a special issue of FEMS Yeast Research.
Thank you to the yeast research community for three decades of collaboration, contributions, and discoveries!
