Genome Database, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD, USA
The separation of genomic mapping and sequencing data into multiple public databases is largely an historical artifact. Mapping can be thought of as very low resolution sequencing; conversely, sequencing is just ultra-high resolution mapping. As such, genome researchers would like to view these data in a fully integrated fashion.
The challenges to presenting such an integrated view are technical as well as historical. For example, information about position in the genome spans eight orders of magnitude, from localization to a single chromosome down to one of the hundreds of millions of base pairs that comprise it. Any coordinate system accommodating this range must also take into account length polymorphisms, translocations, inversions, etc.
GDB, the human Genome Database, is evolving from a dedicated mapping resource to a coordinated resource for many types of information about the human genome. These include maps, sequences and sequence variations, gene products and families, and phenotypes. Wherever possible, coordinating this information is accomplished by maintaining links among various primary data repositories, rather than by redundant data storage. Recent efforts to improve the integration of mapping and sequencing data in GDB will be presented.
Genome Database home page: http://gdbwww.gdb.org/