These are the official repositories for version 2 of the specification and the Reference Implementation:
Below are the latest news about Beacon v2
Instead of querying for a specific genomic variant (e.g. an A instead of a G at position 7577121 on chromosome 17), Beacons could also employ a “range match” concept, in which all or type specific variants mapping to a genomic interval are being identified.
@mbaudis 2018-11-16: more ...
While the Beacon response should be restricted to aggregate data (yes/no, counts, frequencies …), the usage of the protocol could be greatly expanded by providing an access method to data elements matched by a Beacon query.
As part of the mid-term product strategy, the ELIXIR Beacon team is evaluating the use of a “handover” protocol, in which rich data content (e.g. variant data, phenotypic information, low-level sequencing results) can be provided from linked services, initiated through a Beacon query (and possibly additional steps like protocol selection, authentication…). A discussion of the topic can e.g. be found in the Beacon developer area on Github (issue #114).
As of 2018-11-13, the handover concept has become part of the ongoing code development.
@mbaudis 2018-10-18: more ...
The Beacon Team wishes everybody a happy and healthy 2021! We’re excited about our upcoming Beacon v2, expected to be finalized later this year.
@mbaudis | @laurenfromont 2021-01-15: more ...
The coordinate system that should be used throughout GA4GH standards is 0-based half open.
@mbaudis 2019-03-14: more ...
In the original Beacon roadmap definitions, “clinical Beacon” (lower case) described a set of use cases instead of a specific Beacon flavour.
2020-03-23: more ...
Future Beacon API versions will support querying for additional, non-sequence related data types.
@mbaudis 2018-10-18: more ...
@laurenfromont 2021-12-29: more ...
An v2 extension of the Beacon protocol will allow the query for additional
data beyond genome variants, using a proposed filters extension. Such filters
are thought to be prefixed attributes, where the (public or private) prefix
becomes the basis of scoping the value to the correct database value.
@tb143 | @mbaudis 2020-05-12: more ...