Welcome to the UCSC Genome Browser website. This site contains the reference sequence and working draft assemblies for a large collection of genomes. It also provides a portal to the ENCODE project.

We encourage you to explore these sequences with our tools. The Genome Browser zooms and scrolls over chromosomes, showing the work of annotators worldwide. The Gene Sorter shows expression, homology and other information on groups of genes that can be related in many ways. Blat quickly maps your sequence to the genome. The Table Browser provides convenient access to the underlying database. VisiGene lets you browse through a large collection of in situ mouse and frog images to examine expression patterns. Genome Graphs allows you to upload and display genome-wide data sets.

The UCSC Genome Browser is developed and maintained by the Genome Bioinformatics Group, a cross-departmental team within the Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering (CBSE) at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC). If you have feedback or questions concerning the tools or data on this website, feel free to contact us on our public mailing list. To view the results of the Genome Browser users' survey we conducted in May 2007, click here.

To receive announcements of new genome assembly releases, new software features, updates and training seminars by email, subscribe to the genome-announce mailing list.

26 June 2008 - New Worm Genome Available

Along with the set of worm browser updates that we're currently releasing, we've added a new nematode to the collection: Caenorhabditis japonica. This genome assembly (UCSC version caeJap1, Mar. 2008) corresponds to the v. 3.0.2 assembly produced by the Genome Sequencing Center at the Washington University St. Louis (WUSTL) School of Medicine.

Bulk downloads of the sequence and annotation data are available via the Genome Browser FTP server or Downloads page. Please review the WUSTL data use policy for usage restrictions and citation information.

We'd like to thank WUSTL for providing the sequence data for this assembly. The UCSC caeJap1 browser was produced by Hiram Clawson, Ann Zweig, and Donna Karolchik. See the Genome Browser Credits page for a detailed list of the organizations and individuals who contributed to this release.

10 June 2008 - Lamprey Browser Released: We have released a Genome Browser for the Mar. 2007 assembly of the lamprey genome, Petromyzon marinus. Read more.

10 June 2008 - Lancelet Genome Available in Browser: The Mar. 2006 release of the lancelet genome (Branchiostoma floridae) is now available in the UCSC Genome Browser. Read more.

5 June 2008 - Guinea Pig Browser Released: The Feb. 2008 CavPor3 release of the guinea pig genome (Cavia porcellus) is now available in the UCSC Genome Browser. Read more.

The sequence and annotation data displayed in the Genome Browser are freely available for any use with the following conditions:

• Genome sequence data use restrictions are noted within the species sections on the Credits page.
• Some annotation tracks contributed by external collaborators contain proprietary data that have specific use restrictions. To check for restrictions associated with a particular genome assembly, review the database/README.txt file in the assembly's downloads directory.

The Genome Browser and Blat software are free for academic, nonprofit, and personal use. A license is required for commercial use. See the Licenses page for more information.

Program-driven use of this software is limited to a maximum of one hit every 15 seconds and no more than 5,000 hits per day.

For assistance with questions or problems regarding the UCSC Genome Browser software, database, genome assemblies, or release cycles, see the FAQ.

• Description of the annotation database
• Data organization and format
• Terminology