A genome browser is a web interface for viewing the physical map of a chromosome, including schematic representations of entire chromosomes and individual genes. They allow users to zoom in on certain locations and display other useful information such as mRNA and DNA sequences. Genome browsers vary between genomes sequenced and some have gene pickers to search for related genes.
A genome browser is a web interface used to view the physical map of a chromosome. This map shows how much DNA separates two genes, measured in base pairs. Human chromosomes range in size from 50 million to over 250 million base pairs. A genome browser shows schematic representations of entire chromosomes as well as “zoomed-in” schematics of individual genes and even the actual base pair sequence.
A genome browser allows the user to scroll through a chromosome and zoom in on certain locations. Many genomic browsers allow the user to zoom in to view the actual DNA sequence, although the real utility of a browser is in the ability to view genes in their larger context, rather than viewing the DNA sequence at the nucleotide level . The average size of a gene is 3,000 base pairs, so when zoomed in to the base pair level, the user will see less than an entire gene. The largest human gene, dystrophin, is 2.4 million base pairs long.
In addition to displaying schematic representations of genes, genome browsers can also display other useful information. This can include the portion of the gene that is translated into protein, called mRNA, and DNA sequences that have functions other than coding for the protein. The genome browser can also show which segments of DNA have been used in the genome sequencing process.
A large number of organisms have sequenced genomes. There is no single standard browser for the field of genomics, so genome browsers can vary between genomes sequenced. Genomic browsers have the function of being able to search for genes or sequences of interest, allowing the user to jump from one genomic location to another. It would not be efficient to cycle through a chromosome to get to a location of interest, due to the very large size of most chromosomes.
Some genome browsers have tools called gene pickers. This tool displays a table of related genes. The relationship can be of several types: sequence homology, similar expression profile or genomic proximity. The user searches for a gene using a word or phrase, selects the type of relationship they want, and the gene picker displays the search results.
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