The map presents a network of diseases linked by known disorder–gene associations, indicating the common genetic origin of many diseases. Besides the map, an interactive website has been created to explore the dataset and allows intuitive knowledge discovery.

A list of 1,284 disorders and 1,777 disease genes was obtained from the OMIM database. A Force-Directed algorithm was used to give shape to the map. Node color corresponds to the disorder class to which the disease belongs, and the size is proportional to its hub degree, the overall number of outbound links. Link’s width is proportional to the number of genes that are implicated in both diseases.

The map offers a rapid visual reference of the genetic links between disorders and a valuable global perspective for physicians, genetic counselors, and biomedical researchers alike. This new approach may lead to reclassify diseases regarding to their activated genes, improve the understanding of the causes of disease, and the functions of particular genes.

The original dataset can be found here
The GEXF network map can be downloaded here and opened with Gephi.