Elsevier launches new interactive feature for life sciences journals

Elsevier presents interactive gene sequence information from NCBI inside published articles

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, introduces the Genome Viewer, a new interactive feature on SciVerse ScienceDirect for applicable life sciences journals. The Genome Viewer is a SciVerse application that displays detailed gene or genomic sequence information on the genes mentioned in an article.

The Genome Viewer utilizes a genome browser developed by NCBI (the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the National Institutes of Health). Elsevier collaborated with the NCBI as it was developing the browser, and is the first publisher to incorporate the technology into an application for viewing detailed information about the gene sequences that are mentioned in articles.

When an author of an article tags a gene sequence, Elsevier matches this gene with information in NCBI's databases and pulls this information into the article. This allows readers of the article to get specific information about each strand by hovering over it, and also offers functionality such as flipping the strands, zooming to a sequence, or going to a specific position to define a track of interest within the sequence.

The Genome Viewer also allows the user to download the complete list of genes and/or genomes referred in the article along with their respective GenBank accession numbers. This functionality was added based on recommendations of domain experts interviewed.

Andre van Wijnen, editor of Gene and Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center said, "Genome Viewer allows for quick examination of sequences and primer design for genes of interest. It permits easy alternation between long range genomic organization and zooming to the highest magnification to obtain base pair information. The hotlink with the NCBI database is particularly useful, as it further expands functionality and permits creation of multiple sliding windows with different genomic ranges. The introduction of the Genome Viewer to the online article adds a new and versatile dimension to our reading experience."

"We are delighted to offer the Genome Viewer in our journals, as part of our ongoing efforts to enrich the content of articles, put them in context of other published research and improve the presentation," said IJsbrand Jan Aalbersberg, Vice President Content Innovation at Elsevier. "It's an enhancement for the readers as they don't have to search for the gene information outside of the article, and also for authors as it enriches their article."