Team:Wellesley Desyne/Eugenie

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Revision as of 16:46, 27 September 2013

Wellesley HCI iGEM Team: Welcome

Eugenie

TOOL OVERVIEW

Eugenie is a multi-touch application for designing biological circuits using the programming language Eugene. The visual language we created for Eugenie allows synthetic biologists to harness the power of Eugene without having to write Eugene code. The application consists of three representations of the circuit: “TreeView,” “FlowView,” and “EugeneView.” The user can search through Clotho and iGEM databases to find the biological parts desired and can drag them to the workspace, graphically create Eugene rules, and view live-updating Eugene code for the circuit. After the user is done specifying a circuit, she or he can then view the search results, which displays the possible permutations of a circuit based on a collection of parts. This process is meant to be iterative, so users can go back and add more properties and behavior specifications if they would like to prune the results.

Design

The design process is divided into three main views: TreeView, FlowView, and EugeneView. A user starts by searching for parts from the Part Registry or their Clotho database and bringing them into their worskspace. In the TreeView, users can specify the order and structure of their design. The behavior of parts in the device is specified using the FlowView. Users specify structure and behavior using a visual language that we developed specifically for the application; the language utilizes SBOL symbols, an open-source standard for in silico representation of genetic designs. The EugeneView updates automatically throughout the design process, and users may click on individual parts in order to see the corresponding code highlighted in the EugeneView. Finally, users may view and export their results to a CSV or Pigeon files in the ResultsView.

Create the structure of the circuit in the TreeView.	Define rules between parts in the FlowView.
View live-updating Eugene code in the EugeneView.	Generate and export results in the ResultsView.

Implementation

We implemented Eugenie using C#, XAML and the Surface SDK 2.0. We also used the MVVM framework, Eugene for the creation of synthetic biology circuits, and Pigeon to display the circuits visually.

Goals

We had four goals in creating Eugenie:

Implementing top-down design
We utilized the functionality of Eugene, a programming language that is used to implement top-down design of novel genetic circuits—design that begins by specifying devices and then instantiating parts.
Enhancing sensemaking
We implemented sliding panel views, which allow users the option to view multiple sets of information simultaneously or one set at a time, helping users understand the connection between the different types of presentation.
Supporting resource integration
We give users the option to load parts from the parts registry, access parts in a Clotho database, or use a local database.
Fostering collaboration
We used the Microsoft PixelSense, which allows multiple people to use Eugenie simultaneously.

Results

Results showing users' experience with Eugenie.

We conducted user-testing with Eugenie with members of the BU and MIT iGem teams as well as Wellesley College students. In our study, we introduced participants to Eugene, the visual language we had created, and the Eugenie user interface. Users were then tasked with first interpreting genetic devices from our visual language and then translating genetic devices represented in SBOL visualization into our visual language. We next asked participants to use our program to create one of the genetic devices they had translated. Participants rated the ease of understanding the visual language and of using the program. We also asked participants for their feedback on how the program could be improved. Overall response was positive, with many testers believing that Eugenie can become a great tool to help other young synthetic biologists with their research work.

Demo

Future Work

Supplement part information with additional information from previous iGEM projects and other synthetic biology databases
Allow users to access more parts from other synthetic biology databases
Expedite the process for synthetic biologists to create genetic circuits

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-<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2013/8/8f/Eugenie_chart.png" width="300"><div style="width: 300px"><figcaption width="300"> Results showing users' experience with Eugenie. </figcaption></div></div>
+<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2013/8/8f/Eugenie_chart.png" width="300"><div style="width: 300px"><figcaption class="caption" width="300"> Results showing users' experience with Eugenie. </figcaption></div></div>
 <p>We conducted user-testing with Eugenie with members of the BU and MIT iGem teams as well as Wellesley College students. In our study, we introduced participants to Eugene, the visual language we had created, and the Eugenie user interface. Users were then tasked with first interpreting genetic devices from our visual language and then translating genetic devices represented in SBOL visualization into our visual language. We next asked participants to use our program to create one of the genetic devices they had translated. Participants rated the ease of understanding the visual language and of using the program. We also asked participants for their feedback on how the program could be improved. Overall response was positive, with many testers believing that Eugenie can become a great tool to help other young synthetic biologists with their research work.