As Project Psyche rapidly advances toward its goal of sequencing, assembling, and publishing reference-level genomes for all Lepidopteran (butterflies and moths) species in Europe, 17 early-career researchers gathered at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Hinxton, UK, to contribute to this effort. Over two weeks, from February 16th to 27th, 2026, they attended the Project Psyche Genome Curation Training School, led by the Curation Team at the Sanger, to curate assembled genomes. The Training School was funded by the 10kLepGenomes COST Action (CA23122) and organized by Working Group 3, which is responsible for the generation and utilization of Psyche genomes.
Genome curation is the process by which a curator checks and corrects the order of DNA pieces in a genome assembly, while also removing problematic sequences such as false duplications and erroneous assemblies. This is carried out through the analysis of a Hi-C map — a visual representation of an assembled genome that allows curators to identify pieces requiring reorganization or exclusion.
After learning to analyze Hi-C maps, attendees worked hands-on, curating real and recently assembled lepidopteran genomes from Project Psyche. In total, 80 genomes were curated during the Training School, 20 more than in the previous edition, highlighting both the efficacy of the training and the enthusiastic engagement of the attendees. These early-career researchers are now not only trained in advanced genomic skills but can also participate as volunteer curators for Project Psyche, helping the project achieve its goals and build capacity in biodiversity genomics across Europe.
2026 Project Psyche Genome Curation Training School Recap
Genome curation is the process that helps assembled reference-level genomes meet the quality standards set by the Earth BioGenome Project, serving as the final step in a genome publication workflow. It involves visually reorganizing a Hi-C map by splitting and joining DNA pieces until each chromosome is represented by a single, high-quality sequence.
During the 2026 Project Psyche Genome Curation Training School, from February 16th to 27th, 2026, 17 early-career researchers learned to do this from scratch. They arrived at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Hinxton, UK, from the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Georgia, Italy, Poland, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and the US. Teaching was led by Dominic Absolon, a member of the Sanger Genome Reference Informatics Team led by Jo Wood, and supported by Camilla Santos, Michael Paulini, Sarah Pelan, Joanna Collins, Danil Zilov, Karen Brooks, and Tom Mathers. Throught the Traning School, the team provided outstanding guidance and indispensable support.
The success of the Training School was showcased by an amazing outcome: participants curated 80 butterfly and moth genomes, 20 more than in the previous edition! All participants were excited by the new challenge and by learning this advanced genomics skills — not to mention working with some of their favourite lepidopteran species!
Beyond the hard work, participants also had the opportunity to explore Cambridge and learn more about how the College system works at the University. They visited St. John’s College, guided by Dr. Joana Meier, who also led them on yet another learning adventure: punting on the River Cam!
All attendees are now trained to contribute to genome curation for Project Psyche. This will certainly help advance the project’s ultimate goal of sequencing all 11,000 lepidopteran species in Europe, as well as its broader mission of building capacity in biodiversity genomics across the continent. This Training School would not have been possible without the funding of the Lep10K COST Action (CA23122) and the incredible support of Dr. Joana Meier, Dr. Charlotte Wright, and Dr. Mark Blaxter, together with Working Group 3 of the Lep10K COST Action, responsible for the generation and utilization of Psyche genomes.
Legend: representative images of a non-curated HiC map (left) and and one after curation (right)
Legend: two Genome Curation Training School participants, David Cheng and Noémie Hevin (left and center) work with Dominic Absolon, main teacher of the school and a Curation Team expert at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.