EdgeLap: Identifying and discovering features from overlapping sets in networks

Microbes are single celled organisms that can be found everywhere in the world from the air to the soil on the ground. Generally speaking, microbes will be found in extremely close proximity to other species of microbes due to mutual beneficial relationships where one species produces something that another species requires for survival; these groups of microbes are called a community. A widespread question in the microbiological community is trying to identify what microbial interactions are commonly found or not found throughout different communities. To address this question, EdgeLap was developed. EdgeLap is a tool that creates visualizations to help its end users, microbiologists, easily identify and discover common microbial interactions. Although EdgeLap is specifically designed with microbial communities in mind, it can be applied to many other biological networks or even social networks where examining the edges in a network is a question of interest.