The first release of the Mouse Genome Database was launched on the World Wide Web in June of 1994. This release encompassed several projects initiated at The Jackson Laboratory, including GBASE, the Mouse Locus Catalog (MLC), the Mouse Linkage Database and Programs (MLDP), the Homology Database and Programs (HMDP), and probes and PCR databases describing molecular reagents and polymorphisms (MusProb and MusPCR). MGD 1.0 combined all of these earlier disparate databases into one coherent system, eliminating redundancy and making possible new data integration and analysis. Also included was the Encyclopedia of the Mouse Genome, a suite of software tools for browsing mouse genetic data and displaying genetic and cytogenetic maps. This application was a finalist for a Computerworld Smithsonian Award for Innovation in Information Technology.