Based on a collaboration between the RIKEN Advanced Center for Computing and Communication and the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), an official mirror of the UCSC Genome Browser Database was launched in Japan on June 16. This is the second official mirror in the world, following one set up in Europe.
The UCSC Genome Browser Database is a powerful tool which stores the reference genome sequences of almost a hundred species, allowing users to display a variety of data sets, such as the ones produced by the 1000 Genomes Project, ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) project, International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC), and the RIKEN-led FANTOM5 project.
Thanks to the development of next-generation sequencers, there has been a dramatic increase in published genomic data, including genome DNA sequences as well as functional information. Understanding genomic sequences and changes, as well as the functions of individual DNA sequences, is an important mission for researchers in the life sciences. This mirror enables rapid access to the database for users from Asian countries, and will facilitate further research in the life sciences.
RIKEN press releases covering the FANTOM5 project: