The EpiVar Browser is a portal that enables the exploration of genetic and epigenetic datasets, generally under controlled access, and distributed at multiple locations. It allows researchers to explore the interaction between genomic variants and epigenetic features, such as histone tail modifications, chromatin accessibility, and the transcriptome. Because the information about individual genotypes is not accessible, identifiable data is not released. We believe our approach can accelerate analyses that would otherwise require a lengthy multi-step approval process and provides a generalisable strategy to facilitate responsible access to sensitive epigenomics data.
The browser is described in the following application note:
EpiVar Browser: advanced exploration of epigenomics data under controlled access
David R Lougheed, Hanshi Liu, Katherine A Aracena, Romain Grégoire, Alain Pacis, Tomi Pastinen, Luis B Barreiro, Yann Joly, David Bujold, Guillaume Bourque.
bioRxiv 2023.08.03.551309; doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btae136
We employ a federated approach to build a multi-dataset portal where data processing can, when possible, occur at the data location. The portal’s interface contains a list of nodes, each of which hosts a single dataset, as shown in the figure below.
If you have any questions about the EpiVar Browser or would like to report any issue, please contact us at epivar@computationalgenomics.ca.
This work was supported by a Canada Institute of Health Research (CIHR) program grant (CEE-151618) for the McGill Epigenomics Mapping Center, which is part of the Canadian Epigenetics, Environment and Health Research Consortium (CEEHRC) Network. The work on EpiVar was also supported by a Genome Canada grant called EpiShare (Genome Canada - 15502) and a Technology Platform grant for the Canadian Center for Computational Genomics (C3G). This project was also supported by National Institute of Health Research grants R01-GM134376 and P30-DK042086 to L.B.B. GB is supported by a Canada Research Chair Tier 1 award, a FRQ-S, Distinguished Research Scholar award and by the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI), NEXT, Japan. K.A.A. is supported by a grant to University of Chicago from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute through the James H. Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study program.