Illumina partners with San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance for genetics conservation

Illumina (ILMN) announced a sequencing agreement with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s Frozen Zoo. The 50-year-old biobank is the world’s most comprehensive and diverse collection of living cells from threatened and endangered species across the animal kingdom. Illumina will sequence up to 4,000 samples representing 1,300 species in the Frozen Zoo. Genomic insights will be applied to real-world conservation challenges and efforts to safeguard animal species worldwide. A subset of samples will be used for groundbreaking multiomic research, geared toward unlocking vital insights into wildlife medicine, evolutionary biology, and biodiversity preservation. Illumina will sequence up to 4,000 samples representing 1,300 species in the Frozen Zoo. The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has partnered with the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission as a Center for Species Survival focused on biodiversity banking.