# Ensembl Browser Not Loading: Compatibility Issues and Fixes The most common reason the Ensembl browser fails to load is a client-side problem on your own machine, not an Ensembl outage. In practice, a stale cache, an outdated browser, or a privacy extension that blocks Ensembl's JavaScript explains the majority of reports of a blank page, a spinning graphic, or a page that renders without its interactive elements. The first thing to check takes less than a minute: open the same page in a private browsing window with extensions disabled, in a different current browser, on a different network if possible. If the page loads there, the fault is local and fixable in minutes. If it fails everywhere, the problem is probably network filtering or a service interruption on Ensembl's side. This guide walks through ensembl browser compatibility issues from the most frequent cause to the rarest, explains the mechanism behind each failure, gives a short diagnostic sequence you can follow, and finishes with prevention practices. A troubleshooting table near the top serves as the quick-reference core. A compact tutorial section covers how to use Ensembl once the browser is working again, and a later section covers mirrors, archives, and programmatic access for times when the graphical browser is unavailable. The Ensembl project is maintained by EMBL-EBI (the [European Bioinformatics Institute](/knowledge/bioinformatics/the-european-bioinformatics-institute-embl-ebi)) together with the Wellcome Sanger Institute, and its official documentation, blog, and helpdesk are the authoritative channels for service status and supported configurations. When in doubt, their help and support pages take precedence over any third-party troubleshooting advice, including this article. ## Start Here: A Five-Minute Diagnostic Sequence Run these checks in order. Most readers stop within the first three steps. 1. **Confirm the problem is specific to Ensembl.** Load two or three other JavaScript-heavy websites in the same browser. If those also fail, the problem is your browser or connection, not Ensembl. 2. **Try a private or incognito window.** Chrome and Edge use Control plus Shift plus N (Command plus Shift plus N on a Mac). Firefox uses Control plus Shift plus P. Safari uses Command plus Shift plus N. Private windows skip cached files and, by default, disable most extensions. If Ensembl loads here, clear your cache and remove the interfering extension. 3. **Try a second browser.** If you normally use Chrome, try Firefox or Safari. A clean copy of a different browser isolates browser-specific compatibility issues from network problems. 4. **Check Ensembl's own channels.** The Ensembl blog and the project's social media accounts announce scheduled maintenance and unplanned downtime. If there is an active incident, no local fix will help until it is resolved. 5. **Switch networks.** Turn off Wi-Fi and use a phone hotspot, or move off a university or corporate VPN. If Ensembl loads on the hotspot, your institution's firewall or proxy is filtering part of the site. 6. **Note the exact failure.** A blank white page, a permanent loading spinner, a partial page without the genome graphic, a 404 error, or a timeout each point to a different cause. The table below maps each symptom to its likely fix. ## Troubleshooting Table: Symptoms, Causes, and Fixes ![Flowchart of the four request stages a gene page needs, with the failure branch and symptom at each stage.](/article-images/illustrations/ensembl-browser-compatibility-issues-asset-request-path.webp) | Symptom | Likely cause | How to confirm | Fix | |--|--|--|--| | Blank white page, nothing renders | JavaScript disabled or blocked, or a corrupt cache | Check browser settings for JavaScript, test in incognito | Enable JavaScript, clear cache, disable content blockers | | Page frame loads but the contig view or gene graphic never appears | Content blocker or firewall blocking a script, stylesheet, or data request from a second domain | Open developer tools, look at the Network tab for red or blocked requests | Whitelist ensembl.org domains in the extension or firewall | | Permanent spinner on search results or the location page | Stale session cookie or heavy server load | Test in incognito, check Ensembl announcements | Clear cookies for ensembl.org, retry off-peak, try a mirror | | Browser console shows security or mixed-content warnings | Outdated browser that no longer supports current web standards | Check the browser version in its About page | Update the browser to the current release | | Timeout or "site can't be reached" everywhere, other sites fine | DNS failure or network filtering of ensembl.org | nslookup ensembl.org returns nothing or a wrong address | Flush DNS, change resolver, test on a phone hotspot | | Site loads at home but not on campus or corporate Wi-Fi | Institutional proxy or firewall | Site loads on a hotspot, fails on institutional network | Contact IT to whitelist Ensembl domains, use the VPN, or use a mirror | | 404 errors on old bookmarks or shared links | URL pinned to a retired release or renamed page | The URL contains a release number or an old page name | Start from the homepage, or use the matching archive site | | Slow page loads and timeouts during weekdays | Server load or scheduled maintenance | Fails at consistent times, other users report it | Try a regional mirror, retry off-peak | | Page renders but fonts, icons, or images are broken | Partial cache corruption or blocked static assets | Hard refresh with Control plus F5 or Command plus Shift plus R | Clear cache, whitelist static asset domains | | Ensembl loads but downloads and exports fail | Popup blocker or download restrictions | Export attempt produces nothing or a popup warning | Allow popups for ensembl.org, check the downloads folder settings | ## Why the Ensembl Browser Fails to Load: A Short Architecture Primer ![Decision path from the symptom you see to the likely cause: blank page, spinner, timeout, 404 or broken assets.](/article-images/illustrations/ensembl-browser-compatibility-issues-symptom-triage.webp) Understanding what the browser is actually doing makes troubleshooting faster. When you open a gene page, your web browser makes several kinds of requests that must all succeed for the page to render. First, it fetches the HTML document itself from ensembl.org. Second, it fetches supporting assets, including JavaScript, stylesheets, and images, from Ensembl's web servers. Third, the page runs JavaScript that queries Ensembl's backend services for data such as sequence, variation, and [comparative genomics](/blog/guides/comparative-genomics) information. Fourth, your browser sends cookies that hold your session and your view configuration. A failure at any of these four stages produces a distinct symptom, which is why the same complaint, "the Ensembl browser is not loading," can have half a dozen different causes. A blocked JavaScript file gives you a blank or frozen page. A blocked data request gives you a page that renders but shows empty panels or endless spinners. A filtered domain gives you a timeout before anything appears. A dead cookie session gives you pages that half load and then stall. Matching the symptom to the stage is the core diagnostic skill, and every fix below is organized around that idea. One structural fact matters for compatibility: the Ensembl browser is a modern web application. Per the project's own documentation, it requires JavaScript and cookies, and it does not support obsolete browsers such as Internet Explorer. The project maintains compatibility with recent versions of the major browsers, and each Ensembl release can adjust the front-end code, so a browser that worked last year may need an update today. ## Ensembl Browser Compatibility Issues: Causes, Most Common to Rarest ### 1. Corrupt cache, stale cookies, and broken sessions The browser cache stores copies of scripts and images so repeat visits load faster. When an Ensembl release ships new front-end code, a cached file from the previous release can conflict with the new page, producing broken layouts, missing controls, or a page that loads partway and stops. Stale session cookies can cause the opposite problem, a page that loops on authentication or resets your view configuration on every click. The fix is a targeted clear rather than wiping your whole browsing history. In Chrome or Edge, open Settings, go to Privacy and security, choose Clear browsing data, and select only cached images and files plus cookies for the ensembl.org domain. In Firefox, use Settings, Privacy and Security, Cookies and Site Data, Manage Data, and remove ensembl.org entries. In Safari, use Settings, Privacy, Manage Website Data. A hard refresh (Control plus F5 on Windows and Linux, Command plus Shift plus R on a Mac) forces the browser to revalidate its cached assets without a full clear and is often enough on its own. A quick confirmation that this was the cause: the site works in an incognito window on the first try and then works normally in a regular window after the cache clear. ### 2. Outdated or unsupported browsers Ensembl browser compatibility issues most often reduce to a browser that has fallen behind current web standards. The Ensembl front end uses JavaScript features and security policies that older browsers either lack or implement incorrectly. Classic presentations include a page that renders as unstyled text, buttons that do nothing when clicked, and console errors about unsupported syntax. Per official Ensembl documentation, the project no longer supports Internet Explorer and recommends keeping any modern browser up to date. Practically, this means: - Chrome and Edge: current release, which updates automatically every few weeks. - Firefox: current release or the Extended Support Release (ESR), the slower-moving version many institutions deploy. - Safari: the version bundled with a currently supported macOS release. Check your version in the browser's About dialog. If updates are blocked on a managed machine, ask your IT department for an approved current browser, or use the Ensembl REST API and FTP site (covered below) as a workaround until the browser can be updated. A subtle variant of this problem is the opposite one: a browser so new that it ships a change Ensembl has not yet tested. This is rare, because Ensembl tests against pre-release browser versions, but if a browser updated itself overnight and Ensembl broke the same morning, reporting it through the helpdesk while testing an alternative browser is the sensible sequence. ### 3. JavaScript problems and content-blocking extensions Ad blockers, privacy tools, and script blockers are the single most common source of the "page frame loads, data never appears" symptom. Ensembl's interactive components depend on scripts and data requests that some blocking lists categorize as trackers or analytics. When those requests are blocked, the page shell renders and the genome graphic, gene tabs, or search autocomplete silently fail. The definitive test is the developer console. Press F12 (or Command plus Option plus I on a Mac) and open two tabs: - **Console.** Look for red error messages. A stream of errors the moment the page loads usually means a script was blocked or failed to run. - **Network.** Reload the page and look for requests flagged as blocked, failed, or returning 4xx or 5xx status codes. Chrome labels client-blocked requests with net::ERR_BLOCKED_BY_CLIENT, which is the fingerprint of a browser extension, not of Ensembl. If you see ERR_BLOCKED_BY_CLIENT, disable extensions one at a time in an incognito window (extensions are typically off by default there) to find the culprit, then add an exception for ensembl.org in that extension rather than disabling it globally. Common offenders include aggressive ad blockers, script blockers, and privacy extensions that strip cookies or referers. Cookie stripping deserves special mention: because Ensembl relies on cookies for session state and view configuration, an extension that erases cookies mid-session produces symptoms that look like server problems. JavaScript itself can also be disabled, usually by a hardening tool or a leftover setting. In Chrome and Edge, JavaScript is controlled under Site settings. In Firefox, the about:config javascript.enabled preference controls it. In Safari, it sits under Security preferences. Re-enabling JavaScript is required, not optional, for the browser to function. ### 4. Network filtering, firewalls, proxies, and VPNs University networks, hospital networks, and corporate networks frequently run web proxies or firewalls that inspect or restrict traffic. Ensembl's architecture spreads requests across several hostnames (the main site, its API endpoints, and asset servers), and a rule that whitelists only www.ensembl.org while blocking the other domains produces partial failures that are maddening to diagnose from the user side. The signature pattern is network-specific behavior: the browser loads perfectly at home or on a phone hotspot and fails on the institutional network, or the reverse when a VPN routes traffic through a restrictive gateway. Some VPN exit nodes, particularly heavily shared commercial ones, are rate-limited or blocked outright by large websites to control abuse. To confirm, note down three observations: does it fail on every browser on this network, does it fail on a hotspot, and does the developer console show requests that hang (pending forever) or get refused outright. Hanging requests on the Network tab point to a firewall silently dropping connections, which is a job for your IT department rather than for you. The practical workarounds while you wait for IT are a regional Ensembl mirror or programmatic access through the REST API and FTP, both covered below. A final note on VPNs: if you use a VPN for institutional journal access, test Ensembl with the VPN both on and off. Some institutional VPN configurations intercept all web traffic, including traffic that would otherwise reach Ensembl directly, and the interception layer itself can be the point of failure. ### 5. Server-side load, scheduled maintenance, and release transitions Sometimes nothing on your machine is wrong. The Ensembl project publishes new releases several times per year, and each release is accompanied by scheduled maintenance windows that the project announces in advance on its blog and social media accounts. Heavy traffic around popular teaching periods or immediately after a high-profile publication can also slow response times. The confirmation is straightforward: check the Ensembl blog or the project's official social media for an outage announcement, and check whether colleagues on different networks see the same failure. If they do, the fix is patience plus a workaround. The most useful interim workarounds, in order of convenience, are the regional mirrors, the previous release archive sites, and the REST API. ### 6. DNS resolution failures DNS (the Domain Name System) translates ensembl.org into an IP address. A poisoned, stale, or over-restrictive DNS configuration produces timeouts or "server not found" errors before any HTTP traffic happens at all. Public Wi-Fi captive portals, badly configured corporate resolvers, and ISP outages are the usual sources. Test from a command prompt with `nslookup ensembl.org`. A healthy response returns one or more addresses. An error or an unexpected address indicates a resolver problem. Flush the local cache with `ipconfig /flushdns` on Windows or `sudo dscacheutil -flushcache` on macOS, then retry. If the problem persists, switch your device's DNS to a public resolver (any major public DNS service works) or simply test from a phone hotspot, which bypasses the local resolver entirely. ### 7. Broken bookmarks, stale links, and retired URLs This cause is easy to misdiagnose as a general outage because the symptom is an error page rather than a blank one. Two patterns account for most of it. First, deep links that pin a specific release in the URL stop resolving when that release leaves the main site and moves to the archives. Second, page and parameter names change occasionally between releases, so a bookmark that worked for years can start returning a 404 after an update. The fix depends on what you need. If you want current data, start from the Ensembl homepage and search again rather than trusting the old URL. If you specifically need the version of the page you bookmarked, because a paper or a figure depends on it, Ensembl maintains archive sites named by month and year that host older releases, and the project's documentation explains how to find the archive matching your original release. Citing genome browser views in publications should reference the archive URL and release number for exactly this reason. ### 8. Local machine constraints The rarest category. Very old operating systems that cannot run a current browser, machines with critically low free memory where large pages crash the tab, and misconfigured system clocks (which break HTTPS certificate validation, producing security warnings instead of pages) all surface here. The signature is that Ensembl fails alongside other modern web applications while the network itself is fine. The fixes are unglamorous: free up memory, correct the system clock (enable automatic time sync in your operating system settings), update the operating system, or move the work to a machine that can run a current browser. ## How to Fix Ensembl Browser Compatibility Issues: Step-by-Step by Browser The generic sequence above covers most cases. These browser-specific notes fill in the exact menus and shortcuts. ### Chrome and Edge 1. Update: Menu, Help, About Google Chrome (or About Microsoft Edge). The browser updates and relaunches. 2. Clear site data: Settings, Privacy and security, Clear browsing data, select "Cached images and files" and "Cookies and other site data" for ensembl.org. 3. Extensions: Menu, Extensions, Manage Extensions. Toggle everything off, reload Ensembl, re-enable one by one to identify the blocker. 4. Site settings: Menu, Settings, Privacy and security, Site settings. Confirm JavaScript is allowed and popups are not blocked for ensembl.org. 5. Hard refresh: Control plus F5. ### Firefox 1. Update: Menu, Help, About Firefox. 2. Clear data: Settings, Privacy and Security, Manage Data under Cookies and Site Data, remove ensembl.org. 3. Extensions: Menu, Add-ons and themes. Disable all, test, re-enable selectively. 4. Refresh option: Firefox's "Refresh Firefox" feature (Menu, Help, More troubleshooting information) resets the profile while keeping bookmarks. Use it as a second-line fix, because it disables extensions and restores default settings in one step. 5. Hard refresh: Control plus Shift plus R. ### Safari 1. Update Safari by updating macOS in System Settings, General, Software Update. 2. Clear data: Safari menu, Settings, Privacy, Manage Website Data, remove ensembl.org. 3. Extensions: Safari Settings, Extensions. Disable all, test, re-enable selectively. 4. Preferences: confirm JavaScript is enabled under the Security tab and that "Prevent cross-site tracking" is not interfering (toggle it off temporarily as a test). 5. Hard reload: Option plus Command plus R, or hold Shift while clicking the reload button. ### What to send the helpdesk if nothing works If every local fix fails and the mirrors also fail, gather the following before contacting the Ensembl helpdesk through the help and support link on the site: the exact URL that fails, a screenshot of the error, your browser name and version, your operating system, your network type (home, campus, VPN), and any console errors from the developer tools. A report with those six items is typically answerable in one round of correspondence. A report that says only "the site is down" takes much longer to resolve. ## Working Around an Outage: Mirrors, Archives, and Programmatic Access When the graphical browser will not load and you need data today, Ensembl provides several official alternatives. ### Regional mirrors Ensembl operates regional mirror sites, including useast.ensembl.org, uswest.ensembl.org, and asia.ensembl.org. These serve the same interface and data as the main site from servers closer to their users, and they also give you an escape hatch when the main site is down or when your network treats the main hostname differently from the mirror hostnames. Bookmark all of them. One caution: cookie sessions and saved configurations are not always shared between the main site and mirrors, so expect to reapply view settings on a mirror. ### Archive sites If your work depends on a specific past release (for example, reproducing a figure from a paper that cites release 108), use the archive sites named by month and year rather than waiting for the main site. The current human assembly is GRCh38, and older assemblies such as GRCh37 remain available on their own dedicated archive servers for projects that must stay on a frozen reference. ### The REST API For sequence lookups, ID mapping, overlap queries, and variant data, the Ensembl REST API at rest.ensembl.org returns JSON or plain text over plain HTTP requests, works from any language with an HTTP client, and is documented with worked examples on the project's website. A minimal example that fetches the genomic sequence for human BRCA1: ``` curl "https://rest.ensembl.org/sequence/id/ENSG00000012048?content-type=text/plain" ``` The API has rate limits, documented on the site, that are generous for interactive use but should be respected by scripts with pauses between requests. If the graphical browser is down but the API responds, you can pull the data you need and inspect it locally, or load it into a genome viewer such as IGV (the Integrative Genomics Viewer) with data you fetch separately. ### FTP and BioMart Bulk data never needs the browser at all. The Ensembl FTP site at ftp.ensembl.org hosts genome sequences, gene annotation in GTF and GFF3 formats, variant data in VCF, and homology and comparative data, organized in directories by release number. Download the GTF and genome FASTA for your species once, and the browser outage stops mattering for annotation-dependent work. BioMart, accessible from the main site, provides point-and-click bulk queries for gene lists, orthologs, and sequences when you need a table rather than a file. ## How to Use Ensembl: A Short Genome Browser Tutorial With the browser loading again, this orientation covers the moves that matter most for routine work. Ensembl is a genome database and browser suite: it stores reference genome assemblies, gene annotation, variation, regulation, and comparative data, and it presents all of it through consistent per-species websites. **Searching.** The search box at the top of every page accepts gene names, Ensembl stable IDs, variants, and chromosome coordinates. Searching "BRCA1" with human selected takes you to the BRCA1 gene page (stable ID ENSG00000012048). Searching a coordinate such as 13:32,000,000-32,100,000 jumps straight to a location. If a search returns nothing, check that the correct species is selected, because gene symbols are frequently shared across species or differ from the canonical name Ensembl uses. **The gene page.** Gene pages are organized under tabs. The Genes and transcripts tab shows the transcript models with their exon structure and protein products. The Sequence tab shows genomic sequence, cDNA, and protein with options to highlight features and export in FASTA format. Location-based tabs show the region view with configurable data tracks. Variation tabs list known variants with their frequencies and consequences. The exact tab set varies by species and by what data Ensembl holds for that genome. **Configuring the view.** The "Configure this page" link on the left side of location pages opens the track controls, where you turn on features such as regulatory regions, repeats, other transcripts, and your own uploaded data. Custom data can be attached through the "Add your data" option, which accepts common formats including BED and VCF files. **Exporting.** Every relevant view has an Export link that produces FASTA, GFF, or tabular output for exactly the region on screen. For anything larger than a region, prefer the FTP site, because browser exports are sized for pages, not chromosomes. **Tools.** The Tools menu collects the run-on-demand services. BLAST/BLAT aligns your sequence against a chosen assembly. The Variant Effect Predictor (VEP) annotates variants with their predicted consequences. These jobs run on Ensembl's servers and notify you by email when finished, so a slow or down browser affects only job submission, not the jobs themselves. **Species and assemblies.** Vertebrates live on the main Ensembl site, and data for plants, fungi, protists, metazoa, and bacteria came over from the Ensembl Genomes project into the main site through recent releases. When a paper cites an assembly such as GRCh38 for human or GRCm39 for mouse, match that assembly in the species dropdown or the assembly switcher before comparing coordinates, because coordinates are meaningless across assemblies. **Accounts.** A free Ensembl account lets you save view configurations, data, and bookmarked pages, which makes your setup portable between the main site and mirrors and recoverable after a cache clear. If you troubleshoot regularly, an account pays for itself the first time a cookie wipe would otherwise have erased a carefully configured track set. ## Common Mistakes and Limitations **Assuming an outage before checking the client.** The majority of "Ensembl is down" reports resolve to a local cause. Run the incognito-window test before anything else. It is the single highest-yield step. **Clearing all cookies and history when a targeted clear would do.** Wiping every site's data logs you out of everything and rarely fixes anything a targeted ensembl.org clear would not. Clear narrowly first. **Diagnosing from a single symptom.** A blank page and a spinner and a 404 are three different failures. Read the console and the Network tab before trying fixes at random, or you will clear caches for problems that are network filtering, and whitelist extensions for problems that are stale cookies. **Overlooking the extension angle.** People test in incognito, see it work, conclude the problem is solved, and close the window. The finding is a diagnosis, not a fix. The interfering extension is still there in normal windows. **Ignoring release pins in shared URLs.** Collaborators often send links that pin an old release. Those links fail or behave unexpectedly after archives rotate. When sharing, send either the current site link or the exact archive link and say which release the work depends on. **Comparing coordinates across assemblies.** A coordinate in GRCh37 is a different locus in GRCh38. Every comparison across versions must go through a coordinate conversion or a re-mapping of the feature, which Ensembl supports through its assembly converter tools. **Waiting on the browser when the task is bulk data.** If you need annotations for 20,000 genes, the browser is the wrong tool even on a good day. Use the FTP site, BioMart, or the API. The browser is for inspection, not for bulk retrieval. One general limitation applies to any workflow guide: individual environments differ, and a fix that works on one managed machine may be blocked by policy on another. If your machine is administered by an institution, IT support is part of the troubleshooting path, not a last resort. ## Prevention Practices A few habits prevent almost every recurrence of the problems above. - **Update browsers automatically.** Leave automatic updates on for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Safari, and restart the browser weekly so updates apply. - **Bookmark the mirrors.** Keep useast.ensembl.org, uswest.ensembl.org, and asia.ensembl.org alongside the main site in your bookmarks bar. - **Follow the official channels.** Watch the Ensembl blog or the project's social media for maintenance announcements, and plan analysis sessions around known maintenance windows. - **Keep local copies of what you depend on.** Download the genome FASTA and GTF for your working species from the FTP site at each release you adopt. Local annotation is faster, reproducible, and immune to outages. - **Cite releases and archive URLs.** When a browser view matters to a manuscript, record the release number and use the archive URL, so the figure remains reproducible years later. - **Use an Ensembl account.** Saved configurations survive cache clears and carry over between machines. - **Whitelist early on managed networks.** If you join a new institution or company, ask IT to verify access to the Ensembl domains before your analysis deadlines, not during them. - **Learn the REST API basics.** Ten minutes with the API documentation converts most browser-dependent lookups into commands that work even when the graphical site does not. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Why does the Ensembl browser show a blank white page? A blank page almost always means JavaScript failed to run, either because it is disabled, because an extension blocked the scripts, or because a cached script conflicts with the current release. Test in an incognito window first. If the page loads there, clear your cached files and cookies for ensembl.org and re-enable extensions one at a time to find the blocker. ### Is Ensembl down right now, and how do I check? Check the Ensembl blog and the project's official social media accounts, which announce scheduled maintenance and unplanned outages. Also test the site from a different network or device. If Ensembl is unreachable from multiple unrelated networks, an outage is likely and the answer is to wait or use a mirror rather than change your settings. ### Which browsers does Ensembl support? Per the project's own documentation, Ensembl works with recent versions of the major browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari, and requires JavaScript and cookies. Internet Explorer is not supported. If your browser is more than a year out of date, updating it resolves most compatibility problems on its own. ### Why does Ensembl work at home but not on my university network? Institutional networks run proxies and firewalls that may block some of the domains Ensembl uses for scripts and data requests, and some VPN configurations intercept traffic in ways that break the site. Confirm by testing on a phone hotspot, then ask your IT department to whitelist the Ensembl domains or use a regional mirror in the meantime. ### What are the Ensembl mirror sites and when should I use them? The mirrors, including useast.ensembl.org, uswest.ensembl.org, and asia.ensembl.org, serve the same data and interface as the main site. Use the mirror nearest you for faster load times, or any mirror when the main site is slow or unavailable. Expect to reapply saved view settings, because sessions are not always shared between the main site and the mirrors. ### Why do my old Ensembl bookmarks and links stop working? Links that pin a specific release in the URL stop resolving when that release moves off the main site, and page names occasionally change between releases. Start from the homepage and search again for current data, or use the archive site matching the release you need if the work depends on reproducing that exact version. ### Can I use Ensembl without the browser, for example from the command line? Yes. The Ensembl REST API at rest.ensembl.org serves sequence, gene, variant, and comparative data over plain HTTP requests, and the FTP site at ftp.ensembl.org hosts complete genome sequences and annotation files. BioMart handles bulk tabular queries, and the public database server supports direct SQL access for programmatic workloads. ### How do I contact the Ensembl helpdesk and what should I include? Use the help and support link on the Ensembl website to open a ticket with the helpdesk. Include the exact URL that fails, a screenshot of the error, your browser and version, your operating system, your network type, and any errors shown in the browser console. A complete report is usually answerable in a single exchange.