Useful Links

Following are links to some useful resources. Many of these resources have already been integrated into our website, and you'll find context-sensitive links to many of these sites from within our site, but we provide a direct link here as well.

Centralized resources
The following two web sites provide an overview of features of the genome, with numerous links to other sites and databases. The Department of Energy site is more disease-oriented.

Global features of the genome (e.g., genes, repeats, SNPs) mapped onto chromosomes
The three genome browsers below are widely used by the genome community, and contain the most recent assemblies of the human genome and genomes of selected model organisms such as mouse and rat. The Santa Cruz site (UCSC golden path) allows the user to specify which features of the genome (e.g. genes, SNPs, GC content) are displayed relative to their chromosomal location. Additionally, annotations and sequences can be retrieved. Gene models can also be retrieved from the other two genome browsers -- Ensembl, maintained by the European Bioinformatics Institute and the mapview browser maintained by the NCBI.

UCSC Golden Path
Ensembl
NCBI Maps - Marshfield, deCode, Genethon master maps

Information about genes
Below is a partial list of web sites that provide information about human genes -- their names, sequences, expression information and, when known, functional characteristics.

HUGO gene nomenclature - Provides the latest human gene name and symbol as well as aliases for the gene name (e.g. old names).
NCBI Entrez Gene - Provides links to sequence, function, and variations for a given gene.
NCBI Reference Sequences - Provides the mRNA sequence for a given gene.
Online mammalian inheritance of man (OMIM) - Provides mapping and functional information for selected genes.
Unigene clusters - Provides mRNA and EST sequences for a given gene, along with tissue expression information.
Gene Cards - Summarizes location, expression, variation, protein domain information, and orthologies for selected genes.
Genatlas - Provides a gene structure model and summarizes information about expression and protein function.
euGenes - Gives summary of gene information.
Gene Ontology - Provides description of gene product attributes, e.g. molecular function, biological process, and cellular component.
Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) - Provides information on metabolic pathways and genes.
HomoloGene - Gives the orthologs for a given gene in other species.
Gene expression omnibus (GEO) - Contains array and gene expression data.
SageMap - Serial analysis of gene expression tag to gene map information.
Vega
CCDS

Maps and markers
The following sites provide information about the sequences of genetic markers (e.g. dbSNP, uniSTS), and their location in the human genome (e.g. electronic PCR, and the master maps).

NCBI Maps - Marshfield, deCode, Genethon master maps
dbSNP
uniSTS
electronic PCR

Genetic disorders
The following sites allow the user to learn more about specific genetic diseases and the genes believed to be involved.

Department of Energy
Online mammalian inheritance of man (OMIM) - Provides mapping and functional information for selected genes.
Yahoo! directory
Medline plus
Gene gateway
Type 1 Diabetes Resource (T1DR) at The Jackson Laboratory

Database searching
Blast (Basic local alignment search tool) is a commonly used method for identifying either nucleotide or protein sequence similarity between a query sequence and the sequences in a data repository such as GenBank.