To ensure the security and long-term stability of our data delivery infrastructure, NCBI will discontinue support for the rsync protocol on June 1, 2026. After June 1, attempts to connect to ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov using rsync will fail.
Continue reading “NCBI Will Retire rsync Support for FTP Downloads on June 1, 2026 ”
RefSeq release 234 is now available online and from the FTP site! You can access RefSeq data through NCBI Datasets. The release is provided in several directories as a complete dataset and also as divided by logical groupings. Continue reading “Now Available: RefSeq Release 234 ”
NCBI, with other members of the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC), has established minimal criteria for accepting nucleotide sequence data into GenBank® and the Sequence Read Archive (SRA). We developed these specifications to ensure that data submitted to any INSDC member database meets a consistent baseline level of quality.
We worked closely with the other founding members of INSDC to document a shared data model and agree on minimum validation requirements for data acceptance. We are publishing a manuscript that describes the INSDC data model, the development and approval of the standards by the INSDC Implementation Committee, and how they will be reviewed and maintained over time. Continue reading “NCBI Adopts INSDC Minimal Specifications for GenBank and SRA”
We invite you to try the redesigned NCBI Taxonomy Browser, developed with input from our user community. In Summer 2026, the legacy Taxonomy Browser will redirect to the new browser in NCBI Datasets. We will fully transition to the new browser in Fall 2026. Legacy FTP and E-utilities access will remain available for existing programmatic workflows, but we encourage you to try the new NCBI Datasets command-line tool and API for a more modern programmatic experience.
Clearer navigation
Rank names now appear alongside scientific names, so you can instantly identify the taxonomic level you’re viewing. Continue reading “Changes Coming to NCBI Taxonomy: Try the New Browser”
A new version (v1.5) of Matched Annotation from NCBI and EMBL-EBI (MANE) is now available. This dataset, produced in collaboration between NCBI and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), includes a total of 19,437 MANE Select transcripts for 19,367 protein-coding and 70 non-coding genes. There are also MANE Plus Clinical transcripts for 73 genes.
In response to requests from clinical expert groups, we created eight new MANE Plus Clinical transcripts included in MANE v1.5. This new version also includes MANE Select transcripts for four additional protein-coding genes and 20 additional non-coding genes as well as six MANE Select changes. Continue reading “MANE v1.5 Released!”
GenBank release 270.0 (2/18/2026) is now available on the NCBI FTP site. This release has 51.56 trillion bases and 6.12 billion records.
The current release has:
NCBI is pleased to announce an improved search and navigation experience in the NIH Genetic Testing Registry (GTR®). We previously highlighted a number of updates during the Beta phase of implementation— thank you for your feedback during this time. All updates are now live in GTR!
Continue reading “Now Live: Genetic Testing Registry (GTR®) Search Improvements”
The ClinVar team is excited to announce updates to the ClinVar Submission API for improved representation of functional data. A previous blog post described these improvements for functional data in file submissions, downloadable FTP files, and our website.
RefSeq release 233 is now available online and from the FTP site! You can access RefSeq data through NCBI Datasets. The release is provided in several directories as a complete dataset and also as divided by logical groupings.
As of January 26, 2026, this full release incorporates genomic, transcript, and protein data containing:
PMC will make major changes to our Article Dataset Distribution Services in 2026. In August 2026, you will need to access full text article data files through the PMC Cloud Service instead of the PMC FTP Service. This change will provide you with more reliable performance, faster retrieval times, and greater flexibility in retrieving only the types and number of files you wish to work with.
Since this may impact operational workflows, we are providing a transition period from February to August. During this time, the FTP Service, OA Web Service API, and the current PMC Cloud Service files will remain available concurrently with the updated PMC Cloud Service on AWS. Continue reading “Changes to PMC Article Dataset Distribution Services Coming in 2026”