BioTapestry

BioTapestry
BioTapestry
Developer	Institute for Systems Biology
Stable release	7.1.3 / 25 September 2023
Repository	github.com/BioTapestry/Production
Written in	Java
Operating system	Any (Java-based)
License	LGPL
Website	BioTapestry home

Last updated December 25, 2025

BioTapestry is an open source software application for modeling and visualizing gene regulatory networks (GRNs).^[1]^[2]

History

BioTapestry was created at the Institute of Systems Biology in Seattle, in collaboration with the Davidson Lab at the California Institute of Technology. The project was initiated to support the ongoing development of the model of the GRN regulating the development of the endomesoderm in the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. BioTapestry was initially made public in late 2003 as a web-based, read-only interactive viewer for the sea urchin network, with the first fully functional editor released in August 2004 (v0.94.1). The current version, 7.1.3, was released in September 2023.

Development

Development work on BioTapestry is ongoing. For more information about version 7.1, see the release notes page.

Usage

BioTapestry is an interactive tool for modeling and visualizing gene regulatory networks.

Interactive examples

Sea urchin endomesoderm network from the Davidson Lab.
Sea urchin ectoderm network from the Davidson Lab.
Mouse ventral neural tube specification from the McMahon Lab.
Environment And Gene Regulatory Influence Network (EGRIN) for Halobacterium salinarum NRC-1 from the Baliga Lab.
T-cell gene regulatory network from the Rothenberg Lab.
Zebrafish developmental gene regulatory network from the Yuh Lab.
Limb Morphogenesis from the Vokes Lab.

Features

Input

Gene Regulatory Networks can be drawn by hand.
Networks can be built using lists of interactions entered via dialog boxes.
Lists of interactions can be input using comma-separated-value (CSV) files.
Networks can be built using SIF files as input.

Visualization

BioTapestry uses orthogonal-directed hyperlinks and a hierarchical presentation of models.

Analysis

BioTapestry can create Systems Biology Markup Language files for a subset of networks.

Documentation

The BioTapestry home page has links to several tutorials for using the software.

References

↑ Longabaugh WJR, Davidson EH, Bolouri H (2005). "Computational representation of developmental genetic regulatory networks". Dev. Biol. 283 (1): 1–16. doi:10.1016/j.ydbio.2005.04.023. PMID 15907831.
↑ Longabaugh WJR, Davidson EH, Bolouri H (2009). "Visualization, documentation, analysis, and communication of large-scale gene regulatory networks". Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1789 (4): 363–74. doi:10.1016/j.bbagrm.2008.07.014. PMC 2762351 . PMID 18757046.

External links

BioTapestry site

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[1] Longabaugh WJR, Davidson EH, Bolouri H (2005). "Computational representation of developmental genetic regulatory networks". Dev. Biol. 283 (1): 1–16. doi:10.1016/j.ydbio.2005.04.023. PMID 15907831.

[2] Longabaugh WJR, Davidson EH, Bolouri H (2009). "Visualization, documentation, analysis, and communication of large-scale gene regulatory networks". Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1789 (4): 363–74. doi:10.1016/j.bbagrm.2008.07.014. PMC 2762351 . PMID 18757046.

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