Bases and spaces: resources on the web for accessing the draft human genome

Area of Science:

• Genomics
• Bioinformatics
• Computational Biology

Background:

• The draft human genome sequence represents a significant scientific achievement.
• Numerous research groups are generating vast amounts of human genome sequence and mapping data.
• There is a lack of a centralized, unified resource for accessing this critical information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the challenges in accessing and utilizing the wealth of human genome data.
• To emphasize the need for a central repository for human genome sequence and mapping information.
• To guide researchers in identifying reliable human genome data resources.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing human genome data resources available on the web.
• Analysis of the current landscape of genome sequence and mapping data accessibility.
• Identification of key challenges faced by researchers in data retrieval.

Main Results:

• A significant volume of human genome data is distributed across various web resources.
• No single, central hub currently exists to aggregate all human genome sequence and mapping data.
• Despite challenges, effective strategies can be employed to locate and utilize reliable data.

Conclusions:

• The absence of a central resource complicates access to human genome data.
• Researchers must navigate distributed resources to find relevant human genome information.
• Despite current limitations, locating and using valuable human genome data is feasible with careful searching.