GeneBrowser 2: an application to explore and identify common biological traits in a set of genes.
BACKGROUND
The development of high-throughput laboratory techniques created a demand for computer-assisted result analysis tools. Many of these techniques return lists of genes whose interpretation requires finding relevant biological roles for the problem at hand. The required information is typically available in public databases, and usually, this information must be manually retrieved to complement the analysis. This process is a very time-consuming task that should be automated as much as possible.


RESULTS
GeneBrowser is a web-based tool that, for a given list of genes, combines data from several public databases with visualisation and analysis methods to help identify the most relevant and common biological characteristics. The functionalities provided include the following: a central point with the most relevant biological information for each inserted gene; a list of the most related papers in PubMed and gene expression studies in ArrayExpress; and an extended approach to functional analysis applied to Gene Ontology, homologies, gene chromosomal localisation and pathways.


CONCLUSIONS
GeneBrowser provides a unique entry point to several visualisation and analysis methods, providing fast and easy analysis of a set of genes. GeneBrowser fills the gap between Web portals that analyse one gene at a time and functional analysis tools that are limited in scope and usually desktop-based.
Arrais
Joel P
JP
Department of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics (DETI), Institute of Electronics and Telematics Engineering of Aveiro (IEETA), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
Fernandes
João
J
Pereira
João
J
Oliveira
José Luís
JL
D000465:Algorithms; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods*; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D023281:Genomics / Q000379:methods; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval; D020407:Internet; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics; D012984:Software; D014584:User-Computer Interface