R2: Biologist friendly web-based genomics analysis & visualization platform

Making the ends meet

Jan Koster (Dept. Oncogenomics, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam , Amsterdam, the Netherlands)

High throughput datasets, such as microarrays are often analyzed by (bio) informaticians, and not the biologist that performed the experiment(s). With the biologist in mind as the end-user, we have developed the freely accessible online genomics analysis and visualization tool, R2 (http://r2.amc.nl).

Within R2, researchers with little or no bioinformatics skills can start working with mRNA, aCGH, ChIP-seq, methylation, up to whole genome sequence data and form/test their own hypothesis.

R2 consists of a database, storing the genomic information, coupled to an extensive set of tools to analyze/visualize the datasets. Analyses within the software are highly connected, allowing quick navigation between various aspects of the data mining process.

In the upcoming lecture, I will give an overview of the platform, provide some insights into the structure of R2, and show some examples on how we have made the ends meet to provide our users with a biologist friendly experience.