ENCODE (Encyclopedia Of DNA Elements)
ENCODE: Unlocking the Secrets of the Human Genome
ENCODE is an NIH-funded consortium uniting diverse research labs. Some labs generate massive datasets, while others use computational analysis to identify novel functional and regulatory elements within the human genome. The Data Coordination Center (DCC) serves as the critical nucleus for this project, ensuring its success through meticulous data management and integration.
Since 2012, the DCC has been housed at Stanford University, spearheading the third phase of the ENCODE project. This phase focuses on extracting the full potential of human genomic analyses by integrating them into standardized and reproducible collections. These collections are made readily accessible with defined metadata and robust tools, empowering researchers across various fields.
Our lab plays a crucial role in this process by applying rigorous curation skills to validate the vast high-quality human genome datasets generated by ENCODE. We develop and implement stringent methods to create these valuable resources and distribute them for the advancement of scientific knowledge.
The ENCODE Portal, a public web resource developed by our team, integrates all datasets through their metadata. This portal requires the development of sophisticated software tools beneficial to everyone in the biomedical field, from computational biologists to clinical researchers.
Our ongoing challenge is to design tools that provide all users with seamless access to these data, including complete metadata and the desired resolution. The culmination of our efforts will be a truly invaluable online resource for human research, fulfilling user needs for human single-gene studies and offering comprehensive summaries of diverse information, including regulatory elements and sequence variations.
Funding:
- US National Institutes of Health, National Human Genome Research Institute (grant U24 HG009397)
Join us in exploring the ENCODE Portal and unlocking the secrets of the human genome!