At present the focus for genome sequencing is discovery of variation, however as both experimental and computational techniques improve, it will become possible to sequence and assemble large genomes de novo. At this point it may become cost effective to sequence many more mammalian genomes. However, a major expansion of the number of genomes provided using Ensembl technology is already underway, in the form of the Ensembl Genomes project, (http://www.ensemblgenomes.org/), which will use Ensembl technology to provide a common interface to genomes across biology. Significant API and schema developments have already taken place to support this, including the ability to store several species in a single core database.
