Can bioinformatics run in the browser?
GenomicX is an open-source experiment in compiling established bioinformatics tools to WebAssembly and running them entirely client-side. No servers, no uploads — just the browser.
Each tool is a proof of concept testing a different class of genomic analysis: pairwise alignment, sequence typing, distance estimation, scaffolding, and more. The goal is to understand where browser-based execution works well and where it falls short.
| Tool | What it tests | Demo |
|---|---|---|
| BRIGx | Pairwise genome alignment (LASTZ) with Web Workers | Try it |
| MLSTx | minimap2 in-browser for MLST sequence typing | Try it |
| MashtreeWebx | Mash sketch distances compiled to WASM | Try it |
| RonaQC | Full QC pipeline (samtools + ivar) client-side on BAMs | Try it |
| Socrux | Genome structural typing via rRNA operon mapping | Try it |
| Barrnapx | rRNA/tRNA/ncRNA annotation in-browser | Try it |
| assembly-statsx | N50, GC content, and assembly QC metrics | Try it |
| snp-distsx | Pairwise SNP distance matrices from alignments | Try it |
| SNP-Sitesx | SNP site extraction with VCF/Phylip export | Try it |
| ScagaireX | Species-specific AMR gene filtering | Try it |
| madansix | Pan-genome guided contig scaffolding | Try it |
| MashX | Mash distance species ID and metagenomics screening | Try it |
| Specx | Species identification and assembly QC | In progress |
| Genetrax | AMR and virulence gene detection | In development |
| pMLSTx | Plasmid replicon typing via pMLST | In progress |
| Impressx | EMBOSS sequence analysis utilities | In progress |
| Consensusx | Consensus sequence generation from reads | In progress |
- Client-side only. All data stays on your machine. Nothing is uploaded or transmitted.
- Open source. All code is public. Reproducibility requires openness.
- Reuse established tools. We cross-compile proven C/C++ tools to WebAssembly — the science is unchanged, only the delivery is new.
Bug reports, pull requests, and suggestions for tools to port are welcome. If you have a favourite command-line bioinformatics tool you would like to see in the browser, open an issue.
Website:genomicx.github.io
Built by Nabil-Fareed Alikhan and contributors.