In May, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released its first 'genome in a bottle', a reference sample of DNA for validating human genome sequences. This so-called truth sequence comes from a decades-old sample donated by a Utah woman for (other) research purposes (NA12878 cell line), which, over the years, has been one of the most studied, and hence best-characterized, human samples. Seeing genomic medicine moving toward mainstream healthcare, researchers at NIST recognized the need for a reference human genome and assembled a private-public consortium in 2012 to create one. As detailed in a 2014 Nature Biotechnology paper (Nat. Biotechnol. 32, 246–251, 2014), the group integrated and arbitrated among sequences from 14 data sets, five sequencing technologies, seven read mappers and three variant callers. By correcting for systematic biases in individual platforms and filling gaps in any one sequence by pooling data, the group created a high-quality reference set of variant calls for ∼80% of the genome. This first emanation focuses on single-nucleotide polymorphisms and small deletions. Next, the consortium will continue refining their calls, including the more difficult-to-resolve large structural variants. NIST is also working on several other reference genomes, including a mother-father-son trio obtained from Harvard's Personal Genome Project. A vial of 10 μg of the reference genome sells for $450.