SparkGOR: A unified framework for genomic data analysis

Abstract: Motivation: Our goal was to combine the capabilities of Spark and GOR into a single computing framework for use in analysis of large scale genome data. Results: We have created a relational query engine that unites SparkSQL and GORpipe into a single declarative query framework. This has been achieved by allowing embedding of SQL expressions into the high-level relational statement syntax in GOR and by supporting virtual relations and nested GORpipe expressions within SQL. Furthermore, we have built drivers to enable Spark and GOR to use and leverage their preferred file formats, Parquet and GORZ respectively, and introduced APIs to allow the use of GOR with Spark dataframes. Availability: The SparkGOR version of the GORpipe software is open-source and freely available at https://gorpipe-website.now.sh and https://github.com/gorpipe.