To better understand the genetics of the breed, the Manx Cat Genome Project (MCGP) was launched in August 2015, as a crowdfunded volunteer project by computational biologist Rachel Glover of Douglas, Isle of Man, to perform the first whole genome sequencing of the Manx cat, uncovering the genetic mutations that make the Manx distinct from other cat populations, and to contribute data to the genome databases at the 99 Lives Cat Genome Sequencing Project of the University of Missouri, and the US National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). It is the Isle of Man's first gene sequencing programme, with samples collected and data analysed by MCGP in the Isle of Man, with the input of scientists around the world, initial sequencing work being performed by the firm Edinburgh Genomics and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and by 99 Lives, and server resources donated by Isle of Man biomedical information technology company ServiceTech.