Frequently Asked Questions

The Apollo software package is a web-based tool for visualising genomic contents and manually improving gene predictions. It allows researchers to work on a reference genome collaboratively. The Apollo Service provides Australian-based researchers with customised, local instances of the Apollo software for their genome projects.

Researchers from Australian-based research groups and consortia can obtain an Apollo Instance by applying for an account on the sign up webpage. Further details can be found in the Getting Started tab.

To become familiar with the Apollo environment, please use the demonstration site created by the official Apollo developers, accessible via the Apollo public demo instance, with the credentials:


username demo@demo.com 
password demo

The service is funded to support Australian-based research groups and consortia, and only Principal Investigators with an institutional email address from an Australian research institution may apply for a hosted Apollo Instance. International collaborators are however very welcome to be invited to collaborate within an established Instance or view data. This is at the discretion of the Instance managers, i.e. the Instance Project Administrator and/or Principal Investigator.

No. Apollo is a tool to manually correct genome annotations that have already been produced from automated tools or pipelines. A non-exhaustive list of genome annotation tools is available via our Tool Finder.

Training for the Apollo Service is in development with plans to offer workshops or webinars on the Apollo Service. Training will be advertised to users through their email or via the Genome Annotation Google Group. A number of video resources are available to help you get started using the Apollo Service.

Researchers from Australian-based research groups and research consortia can obtain an Apollo Instance by applying for an account at the sign up webpage. Further details can be found in the Getting Started tab.

The Service will continue for the lifetime of the Australian BioCommons, which is currently funded until June 2023. However, in the case of use that interferes with operations or violates the Apollo Service Terms of Use and Policies or applicable laws, Australian BioCommons reserves the right, without notice, to restrict or remove access.

No. The service is fully subsidised for Australian researchers and their collaborators thanks to: National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) investments made by Bioplatforms Australia (BPA), investment from the Queensland Government's Research Infrastructure Co-investment Fund (RICF) and generous computational resourcing from the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre. The Australian BioCommons (hosted by The University of Melbourne) operates the Apollo Portal and Apollo Service in collaboration with Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation (QCIF).

Control over the access to curate or view data is determined by the Project Administrator of the Apollo Instance. Access to data in your Apollo Instance is private by default. The Project Administrator can grant access with access for public view and/or restricted view.

Yes. As the manager of an Apollo Instance, just upload the genome, any associated aligned genomic data then make genomes and tracks viewable by the public. You can follow the user resource to do so here.

Yes. To access help with your Apollo Instance please email support at apollo-support@genome.edu.au.

JBrowse is a web-browser based genome browser that can be used to interactively view and explore a genome and any aligned genomics data (e.g. sequences reads of transcripts).

Apollo is a tool that is built on top of JBrowse that lets users view a genome, associated annotation file and any other aligned genomics data, but also enables trusted users to curate/correct the genome annotation files by making changes.

Yes. As the manager of an Apollo instance you can choose to make genomes and tracks viewable to the public. To do this, you can follow the user resource here.

Yes. As the manager of an Apollo Instance you can choose to make genomes and tracks private and only viewable (and editable if you like) by trusted collaborators.

The Apollo Service is not designed to handle sensitive data. You are prohibited from using the Service to store or process sensitive data, including but not limited to personally identifying genetic, genomic or medical data.

The Apollo Service is committed to protecting your privacy. We do not collect, process, retain or share personal data other than for the purposes described in the Apollo Service Privacy Policy.

The Apollo Service stores data which you provide to us voluntarily when you upload data or annotate data. You are prohibited from using the Apollo Service to host or process sensitive data, including but not limited to personal data. We may examine the data you share through the service for alignment with our Acceptable Use Policy.

All data is stored and processed in Australia by our Operational Partners.

When you use Apollo Portal to support your publication or project, please cite its use using the following acknowledgement statement:

This work is supported by the Apollo Portal Service (https://apollo-portal.genome.edu.au) provided by Australian BioCommons and its partners. The service receives NCRIS funding through Bioplatforms Australia and the Australian Research Data Commons (https://doi.org/10.47486/PL105), as well as Queensland Government RICF funding.