Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Genome-wide Analysis using ChIP to Identify Isoform-specific Gene Targets
Published on: July 7, 2010
Monitoring changes in the Gene Ontology and their impact on genomic data analysis
Matthew Jacobson1,2, Adriana Estela Sedeño-Cortés3, Paul Pavlidis1,2
1Michael Smith Laboratories, 177 Michael Smith Laboratories, 2185 East Mall, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC V6T1Z4.
Background:
The Gene Ontology (GO) is one of the most widely used resources in molecular and cellular biology, largely through the use of "enrichment analysis." To facilitate informed use of GO, we present GOtrack (https://gotrack.msl.ubc.ca), which provides access to historical records and trends in the GO and GO annotations.
Findings:
GOtrack gives users access to gene- and term-level information on annotations for nine model organisms as well as an interactive tool that measures the stability of enrichment results over time for user-provided "hit lists" of genes. To document the effects of GO evolution on enrichment, we analyzed more than 2,500 published hit lists of human genes (most older than 9 years ); 53% of hit lists were considered to yield significantly stable enrichment results.
Conclusions:
Because stability is far from assured for any individual hit list, GOtrack can lead to more informed and cautious application of GO to genomics research.
Related Concept Videos
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes
Genomics
Genomic Imprinting and Inheritance
The expression of some genes depends on which parent passed the gene to the offspring, through a phenomenon known as...
Analysis of Population Pharmacokinetic Data
Gene Conversion

