This week in our Spotlight series of blog posts, we’re pleased to highlight the CGD Tissue Survey. Check out their plugin in the plugin library, and read all about this new resource below:
In one tweet (140 characters) or less, introduce us to your website.
The CGD Tissue Survey provides access to an examination of gene expression across 17 tissues in 5 biological replicates.Why is your database unique and special?
The Center for Genome Dynamics (CGD) Tissue Survey is the only public resource with microarray data from individual mice, which provides additional information about gene expression that is lost when RNA samples are pooled. Our website provides multiple views of expression data that allow identification of individual samples. It also provides a full design table with additional information about samples that can be used for sorting or grouping samples.Why did you create your website?
As part of the mission of the Center for Genome Dynamics at The Jackson Laboratory, we provide resources for the scientific and education community. The replicated Tissue Survey is part of a set of data resources and software tools at cgd.jax.org for functional studies of the mouse genome. We felt the need for a survey of gene expression that provided information not only about average level of gene expression but also about its variation among individuals. Be believe that the replicated tissue survey will be complementary to previous surveys such as the GNF Gene Atlas and others, which assayed more tissues and cell types but only replicated hybridizations or sample pooling.Who is your target audience?
Biologists and computational researchers interested in gene expression at the individual level, gene co-expression across tissues and across individuals.What’s your greatest success story so far?
The plugin was recently launched. We hope the user will quickly find it useful and provide feedback by visiting our website at http://cgd.jax.org.What improvements are coming in the future?
We plan to implement views of groups of correlated genes, providing on-the-fly statistics about their biological coherence.Who is the team behind your website?
The experiment was conceived by Beverly Paigen and Gary A. Churchill. Data analysis and website development is by Ricardo A. Verdugo. This work was supported by the NIGMS National Center for Systems Biology: Center for Genome Dynamics [grant number GM076468].
Thanks to Ricardo Verdugo for answering our questions. This CGD Tissue Survey plugin looks to be a very valuable resource, and a great complement to the Gene Atlas data we have in BioGPS.
