The IWGSC Celebrates 20 Years

The IWGSC Celebrates 20 Years

The IWGSC celebrated its 20 years during the 2025 Plant and Animal Genome Conference in San Diego (CA, USA)

IWGSC members, collaborators, friends, and supporters from around the world came together to celebrate 20 years of the IWGSC on 11 January 2025.

Founded in January 2005 at the Plant and Animal Genome Conference, the IWGSC has accomplished what once seemed impossible—delivering the bread wheat genome reference sequence to the global wheat community and transforming the landscape of wheat research. 

The celebration was made very special with the presence of the IWGSC co-founders: Rudi Appels, Bikram Gill, Catherine Feuillet, Kellye Eversole, and Beat Keller, who shared memories of the Consortium early days and successes.

This quote from Catherine Feuillet perfectly sums up the evening: “What an evening! It was wonderful to be with so many colleagues and friends who contributed to sequence the wheat genome and believed in it when many thought it was impossible when we started 20 years ago at PAG. The IWGSC was one of the most transforming scientific and human adventure I was privileged to be part of. Thank you all and let’s keep the good work going on our favorite crop."

A highlight of the evening was the presentation of an Outstanding Leadership Award to Kellye Eversole by Rudi Appels, recognizing her exceptional contributions and visionary leadership in steering the consortium since its inception.

Relive the celebration and explore the consortium's history through a slideshow of 20 years in pictures and view photos from the event on Flickr.