What can I do with Ensembl?

Ensembl has many features. Some of the things you can do are:

• View genes, with other annotation, along the chromosome
• View alternative transcripts (such as splice variants) for a given gene
• Retrieve genomic, cDNA and gene sequences
• For any gene, explore homologues and phylogenetic trees across more than 200 species
• Compare whole genome alignments and conserved regions across species
• View microarray sequences matching Ensembl genes
• View ESTs, clones, mRNAs, and proteins for any chromosomal region
• Examine single nucleotide variants (SNVs) for a gene or chromosomal region
• View SNVs across strains (rat, mouse), populations (human), or breeds (dog)
• View positions and sequences of mRNAs and proteins that align against Ensembl genes
• Upload your own data
• Use BLAST or BLAT against any Ensembl genome
• Export sequence or create a table of gene information with BioMart.
• Determine how your variants affect genes and transcripts using the Variant Effect Predictor
• Share Ensembl views with your colleagues and collaborators

NB. This quick tour will not cover all of these features – the aim is to guide you so that you can explore the Ensembl website yourself. For a more detailed look at Ensembl, please see the full course: Ensembl: Browsing genomes.