About us
Learn how GA4GH helps expand responsible genomic data use to benefit human health.
Browser Extensible Data (BED)
Stores information on the location of genomic features
Genomic features — such as genes, regulatory elements, and repeated sequences, as well as RNA — can have consequences for human health and disease. Developed by the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC), the Browser Extensible Data (BED) file format is a common method for capturing the location of genomic features and associated annotations. With guidance from UCSC, the GA4GH Large Scale Genomics (LSG) Work Stream has formalised the specification and developed a concrete set of guidelines for using it.
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Benefits
- Provides a simple and flexible format for describing genomic features
- Outlines concrete guidelines for utilising the format
Target users
Researchers, and clinicians
Image summary: The BED specification stores the location of genomic features, important for studying epigenetics.
THEME
CATEGORY
TYPE
STATUS
Work Stream
LATEST VERSION
Product Lead
- Michael Hoffman
Staff Contact
Tools & Platforms
Community resources
Dive deeper into this product! BED is a plain text file format for documenting the location of genomic features and other related information. Created by UCSC, the BED format is widely used by the community today and is now reflected in a formal specification. The format consists of a series of inputs: three mandatory fields for capturing the physical start and end positions of a genomic feature on a linear chromosome, and nine optional fields for providing additional information, such as gene name and aesthetic features. Custom fields allow for the addition of many other data types.
Date
Version
5 Jan 2022
Date
Title
15 Dec 2023
14 Sep 2023
8 Dec 2020
Don't see your name? Get in touch:
- Ewan Birney
European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) - Yossi Farjoun
Lady Davis Institute - Michael Hoffman
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre - Oliver Hofmann
University of Melbourne Centre for Cancer Research - John Marshall
University of Glasgow - Andy Yates
EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI)
News, events, and more
Catch up with all news and articles associated with Browser Extensible Data (BED).
