Genome Browser Documentation

The Genome Browser offers a web-based interface for visualizing genomic data on a variety of genome assemblies. If you're new here, the tutorials below are the fastest way to get started.

Tutorials

Prefer video? Our training page has short how-to videos on common tasks like saving sessions, using BLAT and isPCR, and finding SNPs in a gene.

Looking up a term you don't recognize? Check our glossary.

Visualize your own data

Display your own annotations alongside the data we host:

• Custom tracks — the simpler option for displaying your own annotations. See our documentation to learn how to load your own.
• Track hubs — more powerful and configurable, ideal for many tracks or for sharing data publicly. Start with our Hub Basics page, and validate your hub with our hub development tools.

For both hubs and custom tracks, we provide storage through hub space.

Share your work

Once you've configured a view, share it with collaborators or publish it broadly:

• Links — share a snapshot of your current view as a URL.
• Sessions — save and share full Genome Browser configurations.
• Public hubs — to contribute your own, see our guidelines.
• Contributed tracks — submit annotations on GenArk assemblies.

Download data

Access our underlying data outside the browser:

• The download server provides the data underlying the Genome Browser, plus pairwise alignments and LiftOver chain files.
• Our REST API returns data in JSON format.
• Command-line tools for working with bigBed, bigWig, and other formats, plus standalone versions of liftOver, blat, and others.

Get help

• Contact us — email, mailing lists, and other support channels.
• FAQ — common questions, including data file formats.
• Want a hands-on workshop at your institution? Get in touch about hosting one, in-person or virtual.
• Found a bug or have an idea? Submit a suggestion.