New: May 2026 Release of Stand-Alone PGAP

With New Evidence Source for Protein Naming

We are happy to announce the release of a new version of the stand-alone Prokaryotic Genome Annotation Pipeline (PGAP)!

What’s new?

Software updated to CheckM 1.2.5
Ongoing improved protein family model data used for annotation
Pfam release 38 is being used for structural and functional annotation
New evidence source: superfamilies

As with previous releases, curators at NCBI continue to expand the library of Protein Family Models (PFMs) used by PGAP for structural and functional annotation. Continue reading “New: May 2026 Release of Stand-Alone PGAP” →

Updates to the NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) System

In Support of the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy

As part of continued enhancements to offerings to support NIH-funded researchers and institutions with compliance with the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine (NLM) recently updated the NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) system to facilitate review of submitted Author Accepted Manuscripts.

What has been updated? 

The NIHMS submission interface (see Figure 1) has been updated to assist Reviewers in applying the correct embargo as outlined in the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy. To learn more about the NIHMS process, see the Help documentation and NIHMS FAQs. Continue reading “Updates to the NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) System” →

Reminder! NCBI is Retiring rsync for FTP Downloads June 1, 2026

Announcing brownout periods when rsync will be disabled

As we previously announced, NCBI will discontinue support for the rsync protocol on June 1, 2026, as part of our ongoing effort to enhance security and efficiency. After June 1, attempts to connect to ftp.ncbi.nlm.gov using rsync will fail. To support this transition, we are announcing two temporary “brownout” periods. During these planned intervals, rsync access will be intentionally disabled to help our users identify and update affected workflows.

Brownout schedule

Rsync will be disabled during the following periods (all times are EDT):

Tuesday, May 12, 2026, from 9 AM until 3 PM
Wednesday, May 27, 2026, from 9 AM until 3 PM

Continue reading “Reminder! NCBI is Retiring rsync for FTP Downloads June 1, 2026” →

GenBank Release 271.0 is Available!

GenBank release 271.0 (4/14/2026) is now available on the NCBI FTP site. This release has 53.90 trillion bases and 6.27 billion records.

The current release has:

261,460,182 traditional records containing 7,289,942,983,522 base pairs of sequence data
4,756,526,485 WGS records containing 45,628,511,953,497 base pairs of sequence data
1,058,643,373 bulk-oriented TSA records containing 898,651,493,967 base pairs of sequence data
191,365,090 bulk-oriented TLS records containing 79,162,820,303 base pairs of sequence data

Continue reading “GenBank Release 271.0 is Available!” →

ClinVar’s New Search Interface and Homepage are Here!

ClinVar is a free, public resource you can use to research the clinical significance of genetic variants. Many people visit ClinVar multiple times a day! We previously announced an upcoming enhanced search experience and new ClinVar homepage, and these improvements are now live.

What’s new?

Search enhancements

The new search interface provides different search boxes for the types of terms typically used to search ClinVar. These search boxes provide additional help with syntax. One or more terms can be combined to create more complex searches. A “more search options” section can also be expanded to enter more atypical terms. Continue reading “ClinVar’s New Search Interface and Homepage are Here!” →

PMC Continues to Improve New Search

In September 2025, PubMed Central (PMC) launched a new full text search. Some previously available features were not included in the initial release. Now, PMC is rolling out additional search features based on your feedback.

What’s new?

Page navigation

PMC recently updated the search results interface to make it easier to navigate your results and customize how they appear.

Page navigation now appears at both the top and bottom of the results page, with one-click options to jump to the first, previous, next, or last page. You can enter a number to jump to a specific page of results. If you prefer to scroll through a single, expanding list, you can still select “Show More Results.” Continue reading “PMC Continues to Improve New Search” →

Strengthening Fungal Genomics: Using Average Nucleotide Identity (ANI) to Verify Yeast Species Identity

Average Nucleotide Identity (ANI) analysis is a useful tool to verify taxonomic accuracy. It compares submitted genome assemblies against reference data generated from “type material,” the official specimen or culture designated when a new species is formally characterized.

We previously applied this approach to prokaryotic genome validation, with comparisons running every day to provide up-to-date taxonomic verification.

What’s new?

We are now expanding ANI analysis to include the fungal kingdom, starting with budding yeasts and their relatives (subphylum Saccharomycotina). Continue reading “Strengthening Fungal Genomics: Using Average Nucleotide Identity (ANI) to Verify Yeast Species Identity” →

MedGen Users: Request for Feedback!

If you use NCBI’s MedGen then you probably know it is your one-stop-shop for access to genetic phenotype information. If you’re new to the resource, check us out!

MedGen is improving the usability of the website and enhancing its data processing abilities. We want to hear from you to help us improve MedGen to better meet your needs.

Let us know:

How you currently use MedGen
How we can make MedGen more useful to you

How to provide feedback

If you are a healthcare provider, genetic professional, researcher, or anyone who uses MedGen, please email the MedGen team at medgen_help@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Continue reading “MedGen Users: Request for Feedback!” →

Now Available: Updated Bacterial and Archaeal Reference Genome Collection

Download the updated bacterial and archaeal reference genome collection! We built this collection of 23,063 genomes by selecting the “best” genome assembly for each species among the 450,000+ prokaryotic genomes in RefSeq. 

What’s new? 

Two species are represented in this collection for the first time 
283 species are represented by a better assembly
Six species were removed because of changes in NCBI Taxonomy or uncertainty in their species assignment

Continue reading “Now Available: Updated Bacterial and Archaeal Reference Genome Collection” →

Now Available! Preview the NCBI Beta Homepage Today

NCBI, part of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), is excited to announce our new Beta homepage! It represents the first phase of a multi-year effort to modernize many pages on our website. We are working to improve your experience so you can find and access NCBI resources quickly and easily.

What’s new?

The Beta homepage and several other Beta pages linked from it are ready to preview today! The link to the Beta homepage can be found on our legacy homepage (see the red box in the image below). Check out the tabs at the top of the new home page to visit other Beta pages, including those under the “About,” “Events,” “Literature,” and “Health” menus. You’ll know you’re on a Beta page by the green banner and “Beta” label found at the top. You can easily navigate back to the classic NCBI homepage through a link in the banner. Continue reading “Now Available! Preview the NCBI Beta Homepage Today” →