What is genomescroller ?
The completed Human genome was published almost a decade ago, but many of its secrets have still not been revealed. The field of Bioinformatics, which combines Computer science, Statistics and Biology is instrumental in making inroads to these secrets. genomescroller is a large-scale, dynamic, visualisation of the information surrounding the Human genome in conjunction with Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design. Its aim is to convey the huge scale of the genome itself, the rarity of the information rich regions, but the richness of the information that we know within those regions. We hope that it inspires in people a sense of curiosity about bioinformatics and biology as a whole, and amazement at the wonder that is the Human genome. We are only presenting one chromosome here, as the whole genome would take at least 6 months!
genomescroller is a live exhibit not a canned video. This presented a number of technical challenges. In particular, the 16 screen video wall version pushed the limits of what the hardware could sustain to get a fast enough frame rate with all screens running at full HD resolution. To record it would require approx. 300MB per second of space.
Three versions have so far been developed:
- Version 1
- 9 interlinked LCD screen run in concert by a small network of Apple minis and Windows PCs. Developed with help from Peter Richardson and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design.
- Version 2
- Modified to use only one LCD screen and two projectors displayed onto a wall.
- Version 3
- Use of large video wall of 16 40" screens (33 megapixels in total). Developed with help from Stefan Arizona and Zeng Wei - both at Future Cities Laboratory, Singapore.