SUMMARY: Rapid progress in genome science requires equally rapid visualization software development so that researchers can better explore and understand novel datasets. To make developing new visualizations faster and easier, we previously re-factored the Integrated Genome Browser (IGB), a desktop Java application with dozens of features, into a pluggable application framework that can accept new functionality as plug-ins, called IGB Apps. However, developers lacked a centralized location for sharing Apps, making it hard to connect with potential users. To fill this gap, we created an App Store for IGB, a user-friendly Web site for developers to release and document Apps, and for users to find them. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The IGB App Store is available from https://bioviz.org.

We demonstrate a Spiking Neural Network (SNN) driven autonomous navigation system implemented on a robot. The neural architecture is inspired by those in nematode Caenorhabditis elegans used for thermotaxis, the behavior of tracking thermal isotherms. Our network uses light intensity as the sensor input, instead of temperature in the worm. The network is able to detect the gradations in sensor-input based on local information, and to make decisions in real time. This enables the robot to do a random search and to track specific intensity regions.