From signal to sequence

www.nature.com/reviews/molcellbio From signal to sequence No scientist is an island and, as the Human Genome Project testifies, we can achieve remarkable things when we work as a team. Biocarta has adopted a community approach to mapping cellular pathways: it provides the tools; the scientific community provides — and constantly updates — the data. The Biocarta website contains several types of information, but its pathway diagrams, which cover all areas of cellular regulation from cell division to apoptosis, immunology to neuroscience, are the main attraction. Clicking on a pathway category gives you a list of pathways: for example, clicking on cell-cycle regulation links to a menu containing the ATM pathway, regulation by cyclins, the p53 pathway and more. Clicking on any single pathway provides a stylized, information-packed diagram that evolves as users provide new information. In the future, pathways will also have ‘gurus’ responsible for assessing submitted information on their pathway. If you don’t agree with what you see, you can send comments to a discussion group and help the pathway to evolve. Each component of the pathway is a gateway to a wealth of information: clicking on any protein takes you to a table containing links to just about any public-domain database you can think of. Whether you want sequences, structures, information on genetic diseases, or just some relevant abstracts, you can link to them from here. If your favourite pathway isn’t in the list, you can submit it. Biocarta even provides a template with which to draw your pathway diagram. If the template doesn’t have the right components, you can send diagrams in any format, “even a paper napkin”. So don’t sit back and watch this site evolve: join in! Cath Brooksbank WEB WATCH H I G H L I G H T S