The importance of Open Data

(Note for true effect, go to the real live pages mentioned here).
Here is a page from the Canadian National Committee for CODATA (sent by Alison Ball). I’m going to choose just one of many data sources:

 

About This Database

This database is devoted to the collection of mutations in the CFTR gene and is currently maintained by Julian Zielenski, Anluan O’Brien and Lap-Chee Tsui as a resource for the international cystic fibrosis genetics research community. It was initiated by the Cystic Fibrosis Genetic Analysis Consortium in 1989 to increase and facilitate communications among CF researchers. The specific aim of the database is to provide CF researchers and other related professionals with up to date information about individual mutations in the CFTR gene and phenotypic data associated with CFTR genotypes. While we will continue to ensure the quality of the data, we urge the international community to give us feedback and suggestions. Since the purpose of this database is to facilitate research, we ask our colleagues to use the information with great discretion in clinical settings. Similarly, we ask those who are looking for genotype-phenotype correlation to exercise extreme care in interpreting the recorded data. For information related to this mutation database, please send an email to cftr.admin. For general information on cystic fibrosis, please use our linked sites. Previous website can be found here.

Comments or questions? Please email to cftr.admin
The Database was last updated at Mar 02, 2007

If you have never seen a bioinformatics database, try following: mRNA(cDNA) and Polypeptide Sequence
and you might get something like:

Click in the following graph to get the CFTR mRNA(cDNA) sequence of 600nts

<!– –>

mrnapolypeptideimagesvc.png

Enter the start and end Nucleotide of the CFTR mRNA(cDNA) sequence

From: To: 100

Enter the start and end Amino Acid of the CFTR polypeptide sequence

From: To:

Move:
100nt 500nt 1000nt 2000nt 5000nt Move Left Move right Don’t Move
Zoom:
200nt 400nt Zoom In Zoom Out Don’t Zoom

mRNA(cDNA) and polypeptide sequence:

Get a sequence only copy:
DNA sequence Three-letter symbol polypeptide sequence One-letter symbol polypeptide sequence

The point here is that the data is of great interest to many people – by no means just scientists. It allows you to query mutations in every part of the genome. Imagine if this data were locked up behind a commercial firewall…

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One Response to The importance of Open Data

  1. Pingback: Unilever Centre for Molecular Informatics, Cambridge - petermr’s blog » Blog Archive » WWW 2007 Presentation

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