GBrowse — the original genome browser at WormBase — has reached an end-of-life support status. Accordingly, we plan to retire GBrowse from the WormBase website at the end of 2022.

JBrowse, the successor to GBrowse, has been the primary genome browser at WormBase for many years. Recently, we released JBrowse2 which fills in the final remaining functionality gaps that existed with GBrowse.

GBrowse was a critical initial component of the Generic Model Organism Database project whose objective was to create modular software components for online genomic resources.  Ahead of its time in many ways, GBrowse launched with a sophisticated plug-in mechanism that allowed it to keep pace with rapid advancements in genome sequencing, high-throughput experimental approaches and the resulting data deluge. Over the following decades, GBrowse saw numerous improvements, including the adoption of a more interactive interface, and the addition of many tools for data display, download, and analysis.

Do you have any questions or concerns about the retirement of GBrowse?  Please let us know how we can help at help@wormbase.org.