Abstract Ensembl (www.ensembl.org) is an open platform integrating publicly available genomics data across the tree of life with a focus on eukaryotic species related to human health, agriculture and biodiversity. This year has seen a continued expansion in the number of species represented, with >4800 eukaryotic and >31 300 prokaryotic genomes available. The new Ensembl site, currently in beta, has continued to develop, currently holding >2700 eukaryotic genome assemblies. The new site provides genome, gene, transcript, homology and variation views, and will replace the current Rapid Release site; this represents a key step towards provision of a single integrated Ensembl site. Additional activities have included developing improved regulatory annotation for human, mouse and agricultural species, and expanding the Ensembl Variant Effect Predictor tool. To learn more about Ensembl, help and documentation are available along with an extensive training program that can be accessed via our training pages.