European Nucleotide Archive

The European Nucleotide Archive (European Nucleotide Archive; ENA) is one of the three major international databases of nucleotide sequences. It includes the EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Database (EMBL - Bank ), formerly the EMBL Data Library, as well as other data sources. The ENA is maintained and provided by the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI ). It was founded in 1980 at the European Laboratory for Molecular Biology ( EMBL) in Heidelberg. Following the formation of the EBI as EMBL outstation at Hinxton near Cambridge, UK, this took over the continuation of the database.

The EMBL - Bank is Europe's primary nucleotide sequences for Archive (DNA and RNA sequences). Main source of its contents are direct submissions by the researchers who have determined these sequences. Most scientific journals require a proof of filing with the EMBL - Bank or one of the partner databases (see INSDC ) before accepting a manuscript with a new nucleotide sequence for publication. Release 106 December 2010 includes nearly 200 million records. Access to EMBL - Bank is free and available online or through downloads.