150 - Genomicx

In this episode, Lee, Nabil, and Andrew experiment with “vibe coding” bioinformatics tools using AI coding assistants. The goal: quickly build useful genomics utilities that run entirely in the browser via WebAssembly, without requiring command-line installs or servers. Nabil states: “Even if you don’t want to use this technology, you should pay attention - because everyone else will.” They discuss how existing bioinformatics programs can be compiled to WebAssembly and wrapped with simple browser interfaces so analyses run locally on a user’s machine. This keeps genomic data private while making tools easier to access. The prototype tools discussed in the episode are available here: https://genomicx.github.io/ These examples show how browser-based bioinformatics might work for lightweight tasks such as genome comparisons and basic sequence analysis. Topics Covered * Using AI tools to rapidly prototype bioinformatics software * Compiling genomics programs to WebAssembly * Running analyses locally in the browser * Privacy advantages of keeping genomic data on the user’s computer * Practical limits of browser-based computation Try the tools and let us know what you think using the hashtag #genomicx