Ensembl is a genomic information resource and genome browser for researchers studying genes, sequence variation, genome organisation and evolution. It provides access to genome assemblies and associated biological annotations for thousands of organisms.
The Ensembl website brings together genomes from across the tree of life, including animals, plants, fungi, bacteria and archaea. Its browser allows researchers to explore genomic features in their biological context, while dedicated tools provide information about genes, transcripts and sequence variants.
The redesigned platform offers a more interactive experience than the original Ensembl website. Researchers who depend on specialist functionality from the earlier system can still access archived versions. The Ensembl blog provides information about the transition, while the project’s GitHub repositories contain its underlying software.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Provides genome assemblies and gene annotations for organisms across a wide range of taxonomic groups.
- Includes a genome selector for finding organisms by common or scientific name and maintaining a personalised selection of genomes.
- Offers an interactive genome browser for exploring genes, transcripts and other annotations within their genomic context.
- Supports navigation from chromosome-scale views to individual genomic regions, with smooth zooming and panning.
- Provides a Feature Explorer for examining gene and transcript information, including gene structure and associated protein annotations.
- Supports searches using gene names, transcript identifiers, variant identifiers and other recognised genomic features.
- Offers the Variant Effect Predictor for examining the potential consequences of sequence variants.
- Provides access to variant annotation, including allele frequencies, phenotype associations and variant impact information where available.
- Supports genomic data retrieval through downloadable sequence and annotation files.
- Offers access to archived genome assemblies, annotations and specialist analysis tools from earlier Ensembl websites.
- Uses a browser interface incorporating React, Rust, WebAssembly and WebGL for interactive genomic visualisation.
Website: www.ensembl.org
Support:
Developer: EMBL-EBI and Wellcome Sanger Institute
License: Apache License 2.0
Ensembl is written in Perl. Learn Perl with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Web-Based Desktop Genome Browsers | |
|---|---|
| Ensembl | Resource for geneticists, molecular biologists and other researchers |
| GDV | Exploration and analysis of eukaryotic RefSeq genome assemblies |
| HiGlass | Explore and compare genomic contact matrices and tracks |
| igv.js | Embeddable genomic visualization |
| NGB | Web-based NGS data viewer |
| JBrowse 2 | Modern React-based genome browser |
| trackplot | Visualize various next-generation sequencing data |
| Gosling.js | Builds interactive genomic visualisations from declarative specifications |
| D-Genies | Compares genome assemblies using interactive dot plots |
| IGV-Web App | Explores genomic alignments, sequence variants and gene annotations |
| Chromoscope | Explores structural variants and copy-number changes across genomes |
| CGView.js | Creates interactive circular and linear genome maps |
| Synflow | Visualises synteny and structural rearrangements across genomes |
| Genoverse | HTML5 scrollable genome browser |
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