Remote visualization of large-scale genomic alignments for collaborative clinical research and diagnosis of rare diseases.
Alberto Corvò, Leslie Matalonga, Dylan Spalding, Alexander Senf, Steven Laurie, Daniel Picó-Amador, Marcos Fernandez-Callejo, Ida Paramonov, Anna Foix Romero, Emilio Garcia-Rios, Jorge Izquierdo Ciges, Anand Mohan, Coline Thomas, Andres Felipe Silva Valencia, Csaba Halmagyi, Mallory Ann Freeberg, Ana Töpf, Rita Horvath, Gary Saunders, Ivo Gut, Thomas Keane, Davide Piscia, Sergi Beltran
Author Information
Alberto Corvò: CNAG-CRG, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 4, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
Leslie Matalonga: CNAG-CRG, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 4, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
Dylan Spalding: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Hinxton, UK.
Alexander Senf: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Hinxton, UK.
Steven Laurie: CNAG-CRG, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 4, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
Daniel Picó-Amador: CNAG-CRG, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 4, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
Marcos Fernandez-Callejo: CNAG-CRG, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 4, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
Ida Paramonov: CNAG-CRG, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 4, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
Anna Foix Romero: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Hinxton, UK.
Emilio Garcia-Rios: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Hinxton, UK.
Jorge Izquierdo Ciges: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Hinxton, UK.
Anand Mohan: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Hinxton, UK.
Coline Thomas: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Hinxton, UK.
Andres Felipe Silva Valencia: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Hinxton, UK.
Csaba Halmagyi: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Hinxton, UK.
Mallory Ann Freeberg: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Hinxton, UK.
Ana Töpf: John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre, Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Rita Horvath: Department of Clinical Neurosciences, John Van Geest Centre for Brain Repair, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK.
Gary Saunders: ELIXIR Hub, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK.
Ivo Gut: CNAG-CRG, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 4, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
Thomas Keane: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Hinxton, UK.
Davide Piscia: CNAG-CRG, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 4, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
Sergi Beltran: CNAG-CRG, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 4, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
The Solve-RD project objectives include solving undiagnosed rare diseases (RD) through collaborative research on shared genome-phenome datasets. The RD-Connect Genome-Phenome Analysis Platform (GPAP), for data collation and analysis, and the European Genome-Phenome Archive (EGA), for file storage, are two key components of the Solve-RD infrastructure. Clinical researchers can identify candidate genetic variants within the RD-Connect GPAP and, thanks to the developments presented here as part of joint ELIXIR activities, are able to remotely visualize the corresponding alignments stored at the EGA. The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) htsget streaming application programming interface (API) is used to retrieve alignment slices, which are rendered by an integrated genome viewer (IGV) instance embedded in the GPAP. As a result, it is no longer necessary for over 11,000 datasets to download large alignment files to visualize them locally. This work highlights the advantages, from both the user and infrastructure perspectives, of implementing interoperability standards for establishing federated genomics data networks.
