The Genome 10K Community of Scientists (G10KCOS) was founded by David Haussler, Oliver Ryder, and Stephen O’Brien in April 2009 at a three-day meeting at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Inaugural meeting attendees included 55 leading scientists representing major zoos, museums, research centers, and universities around the world. The G10KCOS has grown and as of 2017, includes the Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP). The VGP is led by a 15-member council, has various committees focused on specific aspects of the project, and is Chaired by Erich Jarvis. The mission of the G10K-VGP it is to create high quality, near error free genomes of all vertebrate species. The G10K continues to grow as major tissue specimen collection and sequencing progresses for other international efforts to discover and preserve the DNA information in the billion year old fruits of evolution on our planet.

Ryder, O’Brien, and Haussler at the inaugural meeting of the Genome 10K Community of Scientistst in Santa Cruz, CA, USA