OpenGeneX:Expanding the Toolkit of an Open Source Gene Expression Informatics Resource

Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

OpenGeneX will provide a toolkit of capabilities for gene expression data management and analysis in an extensible system. The work will focus on core capabilities, such as addition of links to the database schema and an object-layer application programming interface and a data upload tool for automated loading into the database. In order to support uniform, efficient data analysis, a framework for incorporating new methods and defining protocols will be developed. The analysis protocol manager will be designed to permit storing and tracking of analysis procedures and validated and tested in a community-wide effort. A variety of analysis tools, including data preprocessing and normalization as well as statistical validation clustering methods will be developed. A prototype of peer-to-peer database connectivity will be created to test for supporting diverse gene expression resources in a cost-effective manner. The project is open source, so that other freely available software can be incorporated, rather than redesigned.