Higher Ed Utah

(Geoffrey Fattah, Deseret News) — Imagine recording everything you do in your life. Then imagine digging through tens of thousands of entries of data, trying to make sense of it all.

With the recent advancement of genetic sequencing technology, scientists have experienced an explosion of information that, if analyzed, could lead to innovations in biology, find cures for diseases, and so much more. The challenge is finding a way to sort through massive amounts of data, trying to find patterns and connections.

Some scientists call it “drowning in data.”

Miriah Meyer recalls talking to biology researchers while doing post-doctorate work at Harvard University and seeing how undeveloped the data software they were using was. “It was shocking to me how much room for improvement there was,” Meyer said.

Now a USTAR assistant professor of computer science at the University of Utah, Meyer has worked to create a suite of software tools that helps scientists visualize their data in ways that will help them discover patterns and genetic connections.

Because of her work, Meyer was recently recognized by the MIT Technology Review’s top 35 innovators of 2011. The list honors some of the most innovative researchers in the country.

Meyer points to a wheel of colors. What looks like a rainbow of tiny colored threads sprout from the center to the edge of the wheel. Called MizBee, the software helps scientists compare the genomes of one species, in this case the chromosome of a stickleback fish, to another species, like a blow fish. Each color on the wheel represents a gene and the tiny threads indicate a genetic link between species. By translating data into a simple visual image, researchers can easily trace the genetic sources of animal traits.

Angela DePace, a Harvard biologist who has worked with Meyer, said creating software that is made specifically for them will open up more possibilities for discovery. “More often than not, biologists make do with out-of-the-box solutions that are difficult to tailor to their needs,” DePace said. More…