A data-capture tool for mouse pathology phenotyping

The Mouse Disease Information System is a free Microsoft Access database (http://research.jax.org/faculty/sundberg/index.html) designed by veterinary pathologists to aid veterinary pathologists in data acquisition, analysis, and coordination of tissue-sample archives. Linking the system to the Mouse Anatomy and Mouse Pathology Ontologies provides controlled vocabulary (and spelling) for organ, tissue, and diagnosis. Severity scores provide a quantitative assessment of all lesions to enable quantitative trait locus analysis for large-scale studies. Individual diagnoses can be verified for their definition by online linkage to Pathbase.net. Histologic images can be accessed from Pathbase by using the Mouse Pathology Ontology directly for comparison with slides being viewed at the time of data entry and providing the user with a reference and a "virtual second opinion."