Belly Button Biodiversity

The belly button is one of the habitats closest to us, and yet it remains relatively unexplored. In January 2011, researchers Huclr, J., Latimer, et al launched Belly Button Biodiversity to investigate the microbes inhabiting our navels and the factors that might influence the microscopic life calling this protected, moist patch of skin home. In addition to inspiring scientific curiosity, Belly Button Biodiversity inspired conversations about the beneficial roles microbes play in our daily lives.

This project is to build an interactive dashboard to explore the Belly Button Biodiversity dataset, which catalogues the microbes that colonize human navels. The dataset reveals that a small handful of microbial species (also called operational taxonomic units, or OTUs, in the study) were present in more than 70% of people, while the rest were relatively rare.

Javascript libraries d3 and Plotly are used in this project.

Website is deployed here!

Steps

• D3 library is used to read data.

• Create a horizontal bar chart with a dropdown menu to display the top 10 OTUs found in that individual.

  • Use sample_values as the values for the bar chart.

  • Use otu_ids as the labels for the bar chart.

  • Use otu_labels as the hovertext for the chart.

• Create a bubble chart that displays each sample.

  • Use otu_ids for the x values.

  • Use sample_values for the y values.

  • Use sample_values for the marker size.

  • Use otu_ids for the marker colors.

  • Use otu_labels for the text values.

• Display the sample metadata, i.e., an individual's demographic information.

• Display each key-value pair from the metadata JSON object somewhere on the page.

• Draw a Gauge Chart to plot the weekly washing frequency of the individual.

  • Modify the example gauge code to account for values ranging from 0 through 9.

  • Update the chart whenever a new sample is selected.

• Update all of the plots any time that a new sample is selected.

CodeBase

• app.js
• style.css
• index.html

References

• Plotly.js documentation
• d3 documentation
• Resource for Gauge pointer

Courtesy

• Unsplash:- For images used in the webportal

About the Data

Hulcr, J. et al.(2012) A Jungle in There: Bacteria in Belly Buttons are Highly Diverse, but Predictable. Retrieved from: http://robdunnlab.com/projects/belly-button-biodiversity/results-and-data/

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