The Daphnia Genomics Consortium (DGC) is an international network of investigators committed to mounting the freshwater crustacean Daphnia as a model system for ecology, evolution and the environmental sciences. At our first consortium meeting in 2002, a decision was made to initially focus most of the global efforts on the D. pulex complex, based on the broad set of genomic tools that have already been developed, but to also bring the distantly related congener D. magna on board as soon as possible. Five years later, we are in the process of analyzing the draft genome sequence assembly of the D. pulex genome and we are beginning the D. magna genome sequencing project.

Along with research activities, the DGC is: (1) coordinating efforts towards developing the Daphnia genomic toolbox, which will then be available for use by the general community; (2) facilitating collaborative cross-disciplinary investigations; (3) developing bioinformatic strategies for organizing the rapidly growing genome database; and (4) exploring emerging technologies to improve high throughput analyses of molecular and ecological samples. If we are to succeed in creating a new model system for modern life-sciences research, it will need to be a community-wide effort. We hope that you will participate at some level. Membership is open to the research community - contact John Colbourne.

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