All Rapid Release data, including Release 65, has been uploaded into the new Ensembl Beta site. New genome data will only be released onto the Ensembl Beta site.

The Ensembl Rapid Release website will remain active for the foreseeable future, however, the data and species set will no longer be updated. If you feel that this change will have a significant impact on your analyses, please let us know by emailing the Ensembl Helpdesk.

The up-to-date versions of all of these data* will be accessible from the new Beta Ensembl site. However, we will continue to provide access to the data that was frozen on Ensembl Rapid Release genome browser and FTP site. 

*Please note that data for the reference genomes from The Mouse Genomes Project (available at The Mouse Genomes Project) are currently excluded. We have identified some issues with the data and are actively working to resolve them. The corrected data will be accessible through ensembl.org starting with release e114 and will be integrated into the new website as soon as possible.

Launched in June 2020, Rapid Release was introduced as a streamlined Ensembl platform designed to enable the swift release of gene annotations. In addition to gene annotations, the platform also provides protein feature annotation, BLAST functionality, and homology data. This innovation allowed Ensembl to maintain its leadership in delivering functional annotation data, keeping pace with the exponentially increasing number of assembled genomes released by key initiatives. These initiatives include global biodiversity efforts such as the Earth Biogenome Project, the European Reference Genome Atlas , and the Darwin Tree of Life Project; livestock and domestic animal projects like the FAANG initiatives; and pangenome projects, including the Human Pangenome Reference Consortium among others.