The Project
Phoenix Bioinformatics is a nonprofit organization established in 2013 that created a web portal called Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR). This system maintains a database of genetic and molecular biology data for the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. A good portion of the data is extracted from primary research literature. Functionalities include providing data for gene structure, gene product information, gene expression, etc. The current TAIR has an existing portal called TOAST where only the data entry functionality exists. The key goal is to provide the application with submission, curation review, and public viewing functionality in an intuitive interface. After determining the schema database and having the 3 core functionalities, the team will attempt to extend the system beyond data entry that was previously only for Arabidopsis thaliana. Potentially the data entry can be extend to include any other species’ gene. Additional time after the production will include tweaking of the correlation betwen the submission and curation pages to ease the curator’s time in reviewing a submission. Phoenix Bioinformatics wants Blue Genes to revamp the current web portal - TOAST - with a system that allows registered users to submit genetic data based from literature resources for Arabidopsis thaliana; allows curators to disapprove/approve data submissions; and allows public users to view genetic data. The system should be efficient and provide improved usability compared to the old system.
