This case study is part of a series that has been produced within the study on “Risks and Trust in pursuit of a well-functioning PID infrastructure for research” commissioned by the Knowledge Exchange in July 2021. The main outcome of this work is a report examining the current PID landscape with an emphasis on its risks and trust-related issues. The case study explores the International Generic Sample Number (IGSN) and its development. It aims to help explain how the PID system itself develops by bringing up new PIDs through community services. The interviews conducted give further insight into how IGSN helps the research community. The report, Building the Plane as We Fly It: the Promise of Persistent Identifiers, and remaining complementary case studies have also been published.