Towards a distributed Ensembl

This Implementation Study shaped the development of a distributed model for Ensembl, whereby multiple ELIXIR Nodes use common infrastructure to provide an integrated service to users, each focused on their own areas of interest and expertise.

This approach will increase the quality of available data, and simplify data access for users by allowing the participation of many Nodes in a single service. The study is a natural complement to Task 10.3 "Capacity Building in Genome Assembly and Annotation" in the EXCELERATE project.

The work led to the development of a global species registry employing non-overlapping identifier spaces which will increased facility for genome analysis and customisation of Ensembl to target organisms of relevance. Following this project, the software is more sustainable through improved structures and documentation. This will benefit Ensembl internally, as well as external parties (ELIXIR Nodes, Life Science researchers) who want to create their own Ensembl instance. 

This study is now complete, see the end report.

Webinar summarising the outcomes

Duration: 

1 January 2017 to 30 June 2018

Nodes involved: 

Platform/Community: