Bioinformatics and biotechnology information--some moves in Europe
Franklin, J.
Disease Markers 12(1): 11-21
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0278-0240 PMID: 7842627 Document Number: 430695
This paper reviews the evolution and current status of bioinformatics, a new discipline applying computing and information technology to biotechnology related research. Bioinformatics started as a discipline in the early 1980s, following the creation of a nucleotide database by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), which subsequently expanded into the current integrated database produced by the National Center for Biotechnology Information in Bethesda, USA (NCBI), the DNA Database Japan (DDBJ) and the successor to the EMBL team, the European Informatics Centre in Cambridge, UK. An increasing number of other databases available on a variety of host/producer currently provide information on several areas of biotechnology research. A summary is given of the Strategic Issues paper by the Biotechnology Information Strategic Forum (BTSF), an initiative set up by a group of European publishing organizations in collaboration with the European Commission and the Federation of European Chemical Industries to examine the potential, needs and ways to strengthen the European bioinformatics industry. An overview of the networks and host currently available is given, including a discussion on costing, owning and linking bioinformation, and a detailed characterization of the European Molecular Biology Network (EMBnet) with addresses of the its European nodes.