The Influenza Genome Sequencing Project is a collaborative effort designed to increase the genome knowledge base of influenza and help researchers understand how flu viruses evolve, spread, and cause disease. By putting critical genome knowledge in the public domain, the project leaders hope to provide researchers with the infrastructure needed to develop new vaccines, therapies, and diagnostics, and improve understanding of the overall molecular evolution of influenza and other genetic factors that determine their virulence. Such knowledge could not only help mitigate the impact of annual influenza epidemics but also improve the scientific knowledge of the emergence of pandemic flu viruses. The sequencing effort is helping to reveal the complete genetic blueprints of thousands of known human and avian influenza viruses.