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Privacy-aware Binary Alignment Mapping (pBAM)

A closer look into a pBAM file:

  • This is a manipulation on Binary Alignment Files (BAM). 
  • Works with the majority of trhe functions of SAMtools (exclusions are due to removal of SEQ, CIGAR, and QUAL fields), and other tools that work on BAM files.
  • Works well with many functional genomics pipelines, including STAR signal track (STAR), RSEM gene expression and quantification (RSEM), and MACS2 (MACS2) for ChIP-seq peak calling. 
  • The original BAM does not need to be stored. Rather, a smaller file called .diff can be safely stored for sensitive information in the BAM file.
  • Any BAM file can be converted to pBAM using these codes. 
  • pBAM files can be combined with the appropriate .diff file and reference genome to re-create the BAM file using these codes. 

An example pBAM file:

Specifications

Can be directly downloaded.