Today’s blog focuses on this year’s Google Summer of Code (GSoC). GSoC is an international program founded by Google in 2005 with the purpose of bringing together open-source organisations, and developers interested in contributing to open-source software and getting an exposure to real-world software development techniques. Host organisations list project ideas, and applicants discuss these ideas directly with mentors from the organisations and devise a project proposal to Google, who issue a small stipend to successful applicants.
Continue readingAuthor: Aleena Mushtaq
Retirement of Neandertal Genome website
The Neandertal Genome website will be retired at the end of June 2023. Details about how to access data previously hosted by this resource can be found at the Ensembl Neandertal Project website.
Continue readingGetting to know us: Jorge Álvarez Jarreta from Ensembl Metazoa
This month, we meet Jorge Álvarez Jarreta to talk about his professional journey, Jorge’s role in Ensembl and learn about the new and upcoming features that the Metazoa team is working on.
Continue readingCool stuff Ensembl VEP can do: Using Gene Ontology annotations to understand gene function
Ensembl VEP maps your variants to genes but what do those genes do?
The Gene Ontology (GO) annotates genes with molecular function, the cellular location in which the gene product functions and the biological process in which the gene product is involved. In addition to phenotype association information, which is only available for a few genes, we now show GO annotations to help guide variant prioritisation by providing an indication of the functionality a variant may affect.
Continue readingNew interactions display on Ensembl gene pages
In Ensembl release 109, we introduce a new display that integrates experimentally verified interactions between genes, proteins, mRNA or other small molecules onto our gene pages. This adds an additional layer of data that enables deeper analysis into the ways species interact in a variety of contexts. So far, we have imported curated interactions from PHI-base, HPIDB, and PlasticDB for which we could find exact protein matches in Ensembl.
Continue readingEnsembl 109 has been released!
We are pleased to announce the release of Ensembl 109, and the corresponding release of Ensembl Genomes 56. The release brings updates to donkey and horse assembly and lots of new Plants and Metazoa genomes. We have updated PolyPhen-2 and SIFT scores on VEP and Ensembl browser. And we have a shiny new resource that shows molecular interactions involving genes in Ensembl; ranging from pathogen-host interactions to symbiotic relationships across microbes and other Ensembl species.
New and exciting genome assemblies and annotations for many new species are being continuously added to the Ensembl Rapid Release genome browser.
Continue readingFree Ensembl Browser and REST API virtual workshops in March
Virtual series covering the genome browser and the REST API. Both workshops will be held between Tuesday – Thursday, with the Browser on 7th – 9th March and the REST API on 14th – 16th March 2023 (9am-12pm GMT). Read on for more information and registration instructions.
Continue readingComing back into the office at Ensembl
Firstly, a very happy new year from us at Ensembl. We spent last year adapting to the new and exciting challenges with the reopening of the Wellcome Genome campus. Like other research institutes around the world, EMBL EBI has risen to the occasion, acting swiftly to safeguard staff and students and embracing the new ways of hybrid working in creative and bold ways.
Continue readingPolyPhen-2 and SIFT scores are changing in release 109
We are updating SIFT and PolyPhen-2 predictions of missense variant deleteriousness in the Ensembl browser and Ensembl VEP with the new release 109. We have recalculated all scores using newer software versions, updating PolyPhen-2 from 2.2.2 to 2.2.3 and SIFT from version 5.2.2 to 6.2.1. When we update software and reference data versions, we expect to see changes in some predictions. This is a guide as to what you can expect.
Continue readingRetirement of Ensembl US West AWS mirror
The Ensembl mirror for US West will be retired at the end of January 2023, at the time of Ensembl release 109.
Continue reading