title: BioTapestry now provides a web application and improved drawing and layout tools.
abstract: Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) control embryonic development, and to understand this process in depth, researchers need to have a detailed understanding of both the network architecture and its dynamic evolution over time and space. Interactive visualization tools better enable researchers to conceptualize, understand, and share GRN models. BioTapestry is an established application designed to fill this role, and recent enhancements released in Versions 6 and 7 have targeted two major facets of the program. First, we introduced significant improvements for network drawing and automatic layout that have now made it much easier for the user to create larger, more organized network drawings. Second, we revised the program architecture so it could continue to support the current Java desktop Editor program, while introducing a new BioTapestry GRN Viewer that runs as a JavaScript web application in a browser. We have deployed a number of GRN models using this new web application. These improvements will ensure that BioTapestry remains viable as a research tool in the face of the continuing evolution of web technologies, and as our understanding of GRN models grows.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA.
authors.forename: Suzanne M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Paquette
authors.affiliation: Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA.
authors.forename: Kalle
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Leinonen
authors.affiliation: Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA.
authors.forename: William J R
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Longabaugh
keywords: Visualization; automatic network layout; gene regulatory networks; networks; open-source; web applications