Virtual reality tool developed to untangle genes

Researchers from Oxford have been using virtual reality software to compile genetic data to create models which explain how genes are controlled within their natural chromosomal environments. The team from the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM) have been working in collaboration with physicists from Universita' di Napoli and software developers and artists at Goldsmiths, University of London, to visualise complex interactions between genes and their regulatory elements in an interactive format. The simulations are a composite of data from genome sequencing, data on the interactions of DNA, and microscopy data. When combined, this provides an interactive, three dimensional image that shows where different regions of the genome sit relative to others, and how they interact with each other. 'Being able to visualise such data is important because the human brain is very good at pattern recognition - we tend to think visually,' said Stephen Taylor, Head of the Computational Biology Research Group at the MRC WIMM. 'It began at a conference back in 2014 when we saw a demonstration by researchers from Goldsmiths who had used software called CSynth to model proteins in three dimensions. We began working with them, feeding in seemingly incomprehensible information derived from our studies of the human alpha globin gene cluster and we were amazed that what we saw on the screen was an instantly recognisable model.' There are around 37 trillion cells in the average adult human body, and each cell contains two meters of DNA tightly packed into its nucleus.