Originally just a search engine, Google has become such an element of our culture that the term “googling” is now considered a verb. On Google, one can find general information on the web and specific things too, like pictures, news, and even places to save money (Froogle). It was only a matter of time, therefore, before someone put a Google front end onto searching for sequences on the web, and that is precisely what the folks at InstaSeq have done. With an opening page very similar to Google's, InstaSeq invites users to paste any DNA, RNA, or protein sequence into its search box. The program then makes truncations of it for searching, and voilá, returns results of what it found in a standard Google-like format. With sequences strung out in databases all over the world, this is a dandy way to bring them all back together.
bioinformatics.georgetown.edu/InstaSeq.htm
Lipid CentralLet's face it. Of all the categories of molecules found in cells, lipids aren't usually the first ones that spring to mind. Maybe it's because we associate them with unkept New Year's resolutions or bad news from the doctor. Whatever the reason, lipids get a bad rap, but deserve better. Fast forward to this interesting web site, subtitled LipidomeDB, where one can't turn around without finding lipid information. The mind-bending list of hyperlinked metabolic pathways relating to lipids alone is worth a trip to the site. You can access gene expression data sets, link to online analysis tools, download protocols, and link to external information. Maybe, just maybe, if you do this, you'll think of lipids as something more than a list of numbers from your annual physical.
Rethinking MetabolismMetabolic pathways were known long before scientists began thinking how they were dynamically regulated. Looking like road maps from hell, the schematics are often held up as models of biochemical complexity and connectedness. In an age when over 300 genomic sequences are known, however, metabolic pathways are so, umm, “20th century,” to use a rapidly overworked phrase. A quick trip to GeneNetworks reveals a 21st century view of metabolism via 41 different cellular networks that blend biochemistry reactions and signaling. Example paths include lipid metabolism in the blood, photomorphogenesis, MAPK cascades, and much more. This isn't your grandfather's view of the cell, and for that we can rejoice.
wwwmgs.bionet.nsc.ru/mgs/gnw/genenet
Cell PhonesWhen cells need to talk, they can't just “reach out and touch” one of their neighbors and expect the message to get through. That's what signal transduction pathways are for. If you want to learn how the switchboards work for these important communication systems, you need to check out the Database of Quantitative Cellular Signaling (DOQCS). Organized hierarchically by general signaling mechanism, DOQCS provides an easy to access point and click interface to information on these fascinating molecular communication systems.
Ion Channel SurfingCrossing the lipid bilayer is no simple task for charged molecules. Just ask anyone trying to get their latest wonder drug into a cell. Ions do, of course, pass through cellular membranes via specialized channels, and these make up the heart and soul of ionchannels.org. While the heart and soul of the site may not take up too much space, the rest of the body of this beast is impressive. On the site's opening page, for example, one finds (i) top ranked ion channel publications; (ii) forum postings (for registered users); (iii) blog postings; (iv) top ranked ion channel scientists; (v) ion channel jobs; (vi) ion channel news; (vii) most prolific lab rankings; and (viii) electrophysiology and ion channel links. There's a lotto like at ionchannels.org and little to complain about, save the eyestrain from reading this information extravaganza.
