The new tools used to explore the human genome produce an enormous amount of data. This data has to be
processed and converted to comprehensible, cytogenetic views. The current options in the genome browsers like
Ensemble (Cytoview) and UCSC are not designed for the complex relationships we have to visualize. Next to
this “static” data, there is a huge amount of data coming from genome-wide experiments like arrayCGH or very
specific data from QF-PCR and FISH. To get a better understanding and or interpretation of all kind of data we
need new sophisticated tools tailor made to suit for every genome level, from chromosome to protein. At the
Erasmus MC, the Departments of Cytogenetics, Cell-Biology and Bioinformatics are working together to define,
explore and make programs for a new generation 2D and 3D genome viewers which can be customised for
special data visualizations. Starting with all the public data available today we have made an attractive 2D and
3D viewer for cytogenetic purposes. The visualization of duplicons and pseudogenes and there role in the
occurrence of mutations and rearrangements is our first challenge, mainly because there are thousands of inter-
and intra-chromosomal relationships through the whole genome. Second, the viewers can give you a better
insight for the selection of cytogenetic assays, and the occurrence of polymorphisms in the arrayCGH