I frequently find figures in the form of UCSC browser screenshots that contain no information about the genome assembly used. This can frustrate attempts to reproduce or compare the results as it is necessary to guess the assembly first. Some naive users do not know that this information should be reported. I'm sure this is a problem many people here have experienced, especially since the transition to GRCh37.
The information is at the top of the hgTracks page, but usually people only present the track display PNG. I would like to suggest that the genome assembly code be added to the track display to the left of the chromosome. This would have the following benefits: 1. It would eliminate the problem of needing to guess an assembly for a given screenshot (or even worse, an associated list of coordinates where the assembly is never mentioned) when trying to reproduce it. 2. It would increase awareness of the importance of this piece of information. 3. It would make it easier for reviewers (in the peer-review process, in seminars, of student general exams) to note discrepancies and educate scientists about the importance of using particular assemblies. 4. It would reduce the number of things a careful scientist has to be sure to note in one's lab notebook when attaching a screenshot. The default view for Ensembl ContigView "region in detail" already includes this information. For an example, see <http://uswest.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Location/View?r=6:133017695-133161157>. Please let me know what you think. _______________________________________________ Genome maillist - [email protected] https://lists.soe.ucsc.edu/mailman/listinfo/genome
