Saccharomyces Genome Database
The SGD is a community and bioinformatic resource distributing facts on yeast chromosomes and genes, their products, their functions and interactions. This project focuses on manual curation and integration of published results from both focused single-gene studies and genomic-scale projects. We optimize the manual curatorial workflow using text mining of full-text from peer-reviewed papers and focused identification of laboratory methods typically associated with the determination of protein function. The captured facts are combined in a database that is used by skilled biocurators and verified by bioinformatic analysts. The assimilated knowledge includes gene function, regulation, interactions, pathways, evolutionary relationships, and all observations from genome analysis. Open source computational tools are provided to assist researchers in this exploration leading to discovery.
We curate the cellular and molecular characteristics of yeast biology and present these data to researchers via the Internet. Our research has created new methods for the discovery of relationships via specialized search and display tools. The group builds and then integrates the software components that allow the collective knowledge of the budding yeast cell to be a catalyst for biomedical research. A core component of this work is the precise curation of experimental results. The group is a leader in the discipline of manual curation providing highly accurate gold standard datasets that are used throughout the scientific community. By applying data management and bioinformatic techniques the result of this work is the Saccharomyces Genome Database (SGD). Since 1993 the synthesis of large-scale and small-scale results has not been presented more eloquently than in the Saccharomyces Genome Database.
Funding is provided from the US National Institutes of Health, National Human Genome Research Institute via grant U41 HG01315.