The Microcosmos

The Microcosmos App aims to dissolve the distinction between art and science - for art is simply science in love.

Enter into the Microcosmos and experience the wild and nerdy world of genomics! Come and explore how the interplay of four letters —A, T, C, G—produces all the richness and diversity of life on Earth.

How do these four letters come together to produce organisms as different from each other as an elephant (Elephas maximus) and the parasite responsible for malaria (Plasmodium falciparum)?

It’s not just because the elephant’s genome is longer.

An onion’s genome is almost six times longer than a human’s. The length of an organism’s genome won’t tell you much about the organism. Some people say that genomes are like a blueprint for life. They’re not. They’re way more interesting than a blueprint. Each genome has its own story to tell.

Through the Microcosmos’s Genomic Stories, you’ll be able to delve into these fascinating stories. We’ve organized these stories into constellations for you to explore, each with its own theme.

Our first constellation, Cancer, focuses on the relationship between genes and human disease. You’ll meet a crowd of characters through these stories. There’s an assassin protein working for COVID-19, the Trashy Swimmer bacterium that causes Lyme disease, and an SOB mutation that can weld a jaw shut. Plus there’s the King’s Daughters who left their mark on Quebec and a heart arrhythmia that’ll stop you dead in your tracks.

There’s an even bigger cast waiting for you in the Microcosmos’s Tree of Life. There you’ll be able to meet hundreds of organisms —from sponges and algae to horses and superpowered bacteria — in a whole new way.

Just pick an organism and you’ll be able to start exploring a colorful and interactive visualization of its genome. By zooming into chromosomes, you’ll discover the actual genes (and other features) that make up the organism. You’ll also be able to compare the genome you see to that of other mammals, plants, insects and bacteria.

The world of genomics has countless nooks and crannies and unexpected connections. There’s no end to the stories we could tell — the Cancer constellation is just the beginning. We’ll be adding constellations with themes like Ancient DNA, Psychoactive Compounds, and The History of Genetics.

If there are some themes or stories you’d like us to cover, or you’ve got some general feedback, please let us know in the review section.

“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself” ~ Carl Sagan, an inspiration for the Microcosmos.

Happy Exploration!