Sankey diagram
Definition
A Sankey diagram is a flow visualization technique that displays quantitative relationships between entities using proportional arrows or bands. The width of each flow path represents the magnitude of transfer, making it ideal for depicting multi-step processes, resource allocation, or hierarchical relationships. In life sciences, Sankey diagrams excel at visualizing complex biological flows such as metabolic flux distributions, cell differentiation pathways, patient cohort stratification, or drug metabolism routes. They provide intuitive representations of how quantities split, merge, or transform across biological systems, enabling researchers to identify bottlenecks, dominant pathways, and efficiency patterns in complex biological networks.
Visualize Sankey diagram in Nodes Bio
Researchers can use Nodes Bio to transform Sankey-style flow data into interactive network graphs where node sizes represent entity abundance and edge weights indicate flow magnitude. This approach enables dynamic exploration of metabolic pathways, signal transduction cascades, or patient journey analyses, allowing users to filter pathways by flux thresholds, trace specific metabolite routes, and identify critical regulatory nodes in biological flow systems.
Visualization Ideas:
- Metabolic flux networks showing carbon flow through glycolysis and TCA cycle with weighted edges
- Cell differentiation trajectories mapping progenitor populations to mature cell types with transition probabilities
- Drug metabolism pathways displaying parent compound distribution through enzymatic transformations to metabolites
Example Use Case
A cancer metabolism researcher investigates how tumor cells redistribute glucose through glycolysis versus oxidative phosphorylation under hypoxic conditions. Using metabolic flux analysis data, they create a Sankey-style visualization showing carbon flow from glucose through intermediate metabolites to final products like lactate and ATP. The diagram reveals that 70% of glucose flux diverts to lactate production in hypoxia, with specific branch points at pyruvate showing dramatic shifts. This quantitative flow mapping identifies potential therapeutic targets in metabolic reprogramming pathways.