MizBee – Multiscale Synteny Browser for Genomics

Biologists out there might want to take a look at the open-source MizBee visualization tool.

MizBee is a multiscale synteny browser for exploring conservation relationships in comparative genomics data. Using side-by-side linked views, MizBee enables efficient data browsing across a range of scales, from the genome to the gene. The design of MizBee is grounded in perceptual principles, and includes several techniques such as edge bundling and layering to enhance visual cues about conservation relationships related to proximity, size, similarity, and orientation.

It uses a dual-ring visualization where the outer ring is source chromosomes, and the inner ring is destination chromosomes.  It’s difficult to explain, so just head on over to their site and watch the quicktime demonstration video.

via Overview.

This story written by Randall Hand

Randall Hand is a visualization scientist working for a federal research lab, aiding researchers to discover the insights buried within their terabyte datasets generated on some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world. He also runs VizWorld.com .