The Reference Sequence (RefSeq) collection aims to provide a comprehensive, integrated, non-redundant set of sequences, including genomic DNA, transcript (RNA), and protein products, for major research organisms.

RefSeq standards serve as the basis for medical, functional, and diversity studies; they provide a stable reference for gene identification and characterization, mutation analysis, expression studies, polymorphism discovery, and comparative analyses. RefSeqs are used as a reagent for the functional annotation of some genome sequencing projects, including those of human and mouse.

RefSeq is available in Strasbourg and Toulouse through their SRS.