The US National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), the repository for protein and gene sequences at the National Library of Medicine, now offers links to Internet sites for users interested in more than just nucleotides, amino acids, and protein structure. The system, called LinkOut, expands the biological relevance of NCBI's molecular information by allowing scientists to tap into ancillary subjects such as taxonomy, medicinal applications, and crop cultivation. It also pulls in off-site sequence databases. "LinkOut focuses on third-party providers rather than people within NCBI," says Kathy Kwan, project coordinator. "It's a powerful tool for sharing ideas and collaboration."

How To

After logging on to the system site (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov), click on 'Entrez' in the top menu on the page. You can then search key words, for example Oryza sativa (rice), in a specific subject category available in a pull-down menu at the right of the page. In...

Interested in reading more?

Magaizne Cover

Become a Member of

Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!