Every Genome UCSC Hosts Screensaver
The Every Genome UCSC Hosts screensaver lists the genome assemblies carried by the UCSC Genome Browser — a couple of hundred of them — with organism, scientific name, assembly identifier and release. The list is a compressed history of sequencing effort. It runs in the browser with nothing to install; press ESC to exit.
How the Every Genome UCSC Hosts screensaver works
The saver reads The UCSC Genome Browser's public API.
No account and no key: the request goes straight from your browser, or from this site's own refreshed copy of the feed where the source does not allow browser access.
Values are drawn on a canvas that resizes with the window, so it works on a laptop or a wall display.
If the source is unreachable the saver says so on screen rather than showing stale numbers as though they were current.
A worked example
Each row names an organism in plain and scientific form, with its assembly id and release date. Human and mouse have many versions because the reference kept being corrected; most species have exactly one, from the year somebody finally funded the work. An assembly labelled 2009 that was never superseded means nobody has revisited that organism in fifteen years.
Settings & tips
- Accent and Background recolour the display without changing the data.
- Add it to a Multi-view grid to watch it alongside other live savers.
- Press ESC at any time to leave fullscreen.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a genome assembly?
- The reconstructed sequence of an organism's genome, stitched together from many short reads. Each new assembly corrects errors and fills gaps, which is why the important species have several.
- Why are they ordered like that?
- By UCSC's own display ranking, which puts the organisms researchers actually browse first. Sorted alphabetically it would open on the aardvark and bury human and mouse in the middle.
- Is this real data?
- Yes. It comes from The UCSC Genome Browser's public API. Nothing is invented or simulated, and if the source cannot be reached the saver reports that instead of drawing something plausible.
- Does it cost anything or need an account?
- No. Every screensaver here is free, runs in the browser and needs no sign-up. This one uses a public API that requires no key.