Show HN: I built a biological network visualization tool

31 jmg421 20 7/25/2025, 11:38:19 AM nodes.bio ↗

I've been working on nodes.bio - an interactive tool for visualizing biological networks and systems thinking. The tool features interactive network visualization powered by Cytoscape.js, with real-time graph editing and manipulation capabilities. It supports JSON import/export and provides a responsive design that works seamlessly on the desktop (mobile-friendly version coming later).

The tech stack combines modern frontend technologies with robust backend architecture. The frontend uses Next.js 14 with TypeScript and Cytoscape.js for the visualization engine. The backend is built with FastAPI and Python.

The featured demo showcases a Traumatic Brain Injury Nasal Spray mechanism of action visualization, demonstrating the tool's capability to handle complex biological pathway mapping.

You can explore the live demo at <https://nodes.bio> to see the TBI Nasal Spray visualization in action, along with other biological network examples.

I'd love feedback on the visualization capabilities or any suggestions for biological data integration. What do you think?

Comments (20)

jmg421 · 2h ago

UPDATE: I've added a quick demo page for mobile at https://nodes.bio/mobile/ . The mobile page now showcases three major network visualizations:

TBI Nasal Spray Mechanism - Shows molecular pathways and drug delivery mechanisms for traumatic brain injury treatment.

Biological Network Introduction - Demonstrates protein-protein interactions, signaling pathways, and cellular communication systems.

Innovation Pipeline Network - Visualizes the research-to-commercialization pipeline, mapping connections from scientific discoveries to market applications.

The full interactive experience is available on desktop for advanced features and larger networks.

Thanks everyone for the feedback about adding compelling demo screenshots - this gives mobile visitors a clear sense of what the tool can visualize across different biological domains.

rickcarlino · 2h ago

Reading the threads, it sounds like mobile is a WIP. you should consider adding screenshots of a compelling demo use case to the mobile landing page in the interim.

jmg421 · 2h ago

Check out https://nodes.bio/mobile/

jmg421 · 2h ago

thanks for the feedback. I'm working on this right now.

jmg421 · 3h ago

Update on the 502s- looks like it was a memory issue during an overnight deployment. I'm working on getting a proper staging environment running. Sorry for the inconvenience!

jmg421 · 13h ago

I wanted to share why I built this - it's deeply personal. In 2020, my mother was diagnosed with glioblastoma. As I navigated her treatment, I found myself completely overwhelmed by the complexity of biological networks. The medical literature was fragmented across hundreds of papers, and I struggled to see how her specific genetic markers related to potential treatments.

throwaway127482 · 13h ago

The website has a little card that says "Interactive Mobile Experience" but your post says "mobile-friendly version coming later," which is confusing. I tried it, and it doesn't seem to work on mobile at all (Chrome/Android)

jmg421 · 13h ago

Thank you for the feedback! You're absolutely right about the mobile experience - I need to fix that "Interactive Mobile Experience" card. The mobile version is indeed broken right now, and I should have been clearer about that. Working on a proper mobile-responsive version.

puppycodes · 14h ago

Looks potentially cool but your mobile version needs work, currently looks like its broken

jmg421 · 3h ago

Thanks for the feedback... this is one of the top items I'm working on!

8mobile · 9h ago

Hi, I'm interested in the tool but I get this error, 502 Bad Gateway.

jmg421 · 3h ago

Not sure what happened, it should be back up momentarily. Thanks for having a look at it!

gibsonf1 · 14h ago

Thats a terrible ontology (the relations) - needs to be much lower level to understand anything important.

jmg421 · 13h ago

The current demo shows a simplified view, but the tool can handle much more granular relationships. I have some glioblastoma and pancreatic cancer networks with protein-protein interactions, phosphorylation events, and pathway cross-talk that show the lower-level detail. The challenge is balancing accessibility with scientific rigor.

bloqs · 7h ago

hey you made it to the front page but looks like its down

jmg421 · 3h ago

It's back up, thanks for checking it out!

kvthweatt · 11h ago

I’m getting 502 on mobile

jmg421 · 3h ago

It should be back up momentarily- I think I had a deployment issue while I was working on the mobile experience.

cbracketdash · 9h ago

I'm getting a 502 error on laptop

jmg421 · 3h ago

It's back up, thanks for checking it out!

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Show HN: I built a biological network visualization tool

Comments (20)