Visualisation of genomic data with the Hilbert curve

In many genomic studies, one works with genome-positiondependent data, e.g., ChIP-chip or ChIP-Seq scores. Using conventional tools, it can be difficult to get a good feel for the data, especially the distribution of features. This article argues that the socalled Hilbert-curve visualisation can complement genome browsers and help to get further insights into the structure of one’s data. This is demonstrated with examples from different use cases. An opensource application, called HilbertVis, is presented that allows the user to produce and interactively explore such plots.