title: Model organism databases: essential resources that need the support of both funders and users.
abstract: Modern biomedical research depends critically on access to databases that house and disseminate genetic, genomic, molecular, and cell biological knowledge. Even as the explosion of available genome sequences and associated genome-scale data continues apace, the sustainability of professionally maintained biological databases is under threat due to policy changes by major funding agencies. Here, we focus on model organism databases to demonstrate the myriad ways in which biological databases not only act as repositories but actively facilitate advances in research. We present data that show that reducing financial support to model organism databases could prove to be not just scientifically, but also economically, unsound.
authors.affiliation: Cambridge Systems Biology Centre & Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Sanger Building, 80 Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1GA, UK. sgo24@cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Stephen G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Oliver
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, and UCL Institute of Healthy Ageing, University College London, Darwin Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Antonia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lock
authors.affiliation: Cambridge Systems Biology Centre & Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Sanger Building, 80 Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1GA, UK.
authors.forename: Midori A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: The Francis Crick Institute, 215 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BE, UK.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nurse
authors.affiliation: Cambridge Systems Biology Centre & Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Sanger Building, 80 Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1GA, UK. vw253@cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D016681:Genome, Fungal; D023281:Genomics; D008967:Molecular Biology; D058977:Molecular Sequence Annotation; D012568:Schizosaccharomyces / Q000235:genetics