Tag: Non-human variant data

Variation feature changes in NCBI Reference Sequences coming in 2018

Starting in March 2018, SNP variation features will no longer be in RefSeq genome assembly records – chromosome and contig records with NC_, NT_, NW_ and AC_ accession prefixes. This change affects both the ASN.1 and flatfile records. Because the number of variants is already enormous and still growing, removing SNP features from these large genomic records will significantly reduce the size of RefSeq FTP files and make downloading and processing easier. We will continue to include SNPs on NG_-prefixed genomic records, and transcript (NM_, NR_, XM_, XR_) and protein (NP_, XP_, YP_) sequences.

Reminder: As of September 2017, NCBI has stopped accepting submissions for non-human SNPs in dbSNP and dbVar. RefSeq flatfiles will stop presenting non-human variant data in November 2017.

Subscribe to the refseq-announce listserv for regular updates on RefSeq.

RefSeq release 82 now public

RefSeq release 82 now public

RefSeq release 82 is accessible online, via FTP and through NCBI’s programming utilities. This full release incorporates genomic, transcript, and protein data available as of May 8, 2017 and contains 127,098,289 records, including 84,756,971 proteins, 18,901,573 RNAs, and sequences from 69,035 organisms. The release is provided in several directories as a complete dataset and also as divided by logical groupings.

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Phasing out support for non-human genome organism data in dbSNP and dbVar

This blog post is directed toward people who use dbSNP and dbVar, particularly those who submit non-human data to the two databases.

dbSNP and dbVar archive, process, display and report information related to germline and somatic variations from multiple species. These two databases have grown rapidly as sequencing and other discovery technologies have evolved, and now contain nearly two billion variants from over 360 species.

Based on projected growth and the resources required to archive and distribute the data, continued support for all organisms will become unsustainable for NCBI in the near future. Therefore, NCBI will phase out support for all non-human organisms in dbSNP and dbVar, and will support only human variation.

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