Resolve a gene
to coordinates and sequence.
Ensembl is the reference genome browser — a gene symbol becomes a stable ID, coordinates on a named assembly, a canonical transcript, and FASTA sequence. Three instruments — ensembl_gene, ensembl_sequence, ensembl_xrefs — put that on the console, pinned to assembly so a coordinate is never ambiguous.
What the instrument does
Ensembl (EMBL-EBI) is the annotated reference genome for human and other species — genes, transcripts, coordinates and cross-references to protein and variant databases, all on a stated assembly like GRCh38.
On the console, ensembl_gene resolves a symbol to its record, ensembl_sequence returns FASTA, and ensembl_xrefs lists cross-references — the links that carry a gene to its protein and its variants.
Tools this powers on the console
ensembl_gene · ensembl_sequence · ensembl_xrefs
Research use only. Service names belong to their owners; no partnership or endorsement is implied.
How Perslis integrates Ensembl
Ensembl is the genome anchor, the way UniProt is the protein anchor. A gene resolved here — HBA1 to ENSG00000206172 on GRCh38 — carries the assembly with it, so a coordinate always means one place, and the cross-references hand off cleanly to VEP for variant effects, dbSNP for known variants, and NCBI for sequence records.
Every field is pinned: the gene ID, the region, the canonical transcript, the assembly. A genomic statement on the console names its coordinate system, because a position without an assembly is a position that could be wrong.
Ask
One question at the console — no per-service query language, no tab-hopping.
Route
Lois calls this instrument alongside the others and gathers what returns.
Pin
Every field keeps its source: database, accession, URL. A result that cannot name its source is refused by construction.
Admit
The PEEL gate decides what enters the lab record. Reported values stay verbatim; unsupported claims stay out.
A real, source-pinned result
Pulled live from the service and pinned to its identifier — the same contract every answer on the console is held to.
| Gene ID | ENSG00000206172 |
|---|---|
| Symbol | HBA1 (hemoglobin subunit alpha 1) |
| Biotype | protein_coding |
| Region | 16:176,660–177,527 (+) |
| Assembly | GRCh38 |
| Canonical transcript | ENST00000320868.9 |
Source: ensembl · ENSG00000206172 · retrieved 2026-09-18
Why route Ensembl through one console
The genome anchor
A gene ID keys straight to VEP, dbSNP and NCBI — one gene, its variants and sequence.
Coordinates, callable
An agent resolves a symbol to a position and sequence without opening the genome browser.
Always names its assembly
Every coordinate carries GRCh38 (or whichever build) — a position on the console is never ambiguous.
Instruments Ensembl talks to
A gene is the start of a genomic question. Ensembl hands off to variant effect, known variants and sequence.
UniProt
Curated proteins — function, disease links, domains, sequence.
uniprot_search · uniprot_entryEnsembl VEP
Predicted variant consequences from rsID or HGVS. Research use only.
vep_consequences
NCBI
Nucleotide and protein records — FASTA and GenBank.
ncbi_sequence_search · ncbi_fetch_sequencedbSNP
rsID records — location, genes, alleles.
dbsnp_variant