Introduction to the Globin Gene Server

What:

This site houses a prototype database of sequence alignments and experimental results for the beta-like globin gene cluster of mammals.

The "backbone" of this database consists of a large (73 kb) simultaneous alignment of DNA sequences from the beta-like globin gene cluster of humans and a few other mammals, which is annotated to indicate highly-conserved regions and known sequence features. This is complemented by specific experimental results from the published literature, so that both types of data can be viewed together for comparison.

Who:

This data repository should be of interest to anyone working in the field of globin gene regulation. It is intended to help the international community of globin-gene biologists to plan experiments, to design models and, ultimately, to understand regulation of these genes.

Why:

When fully implemented, this computer-aided, integrated view of alignments and experimental data, which we call electronic genetic analysis, will allow users to more effectively plan experiments based on the full range of previous work. For example, it can help answer such questions as: "Is the region that binds an abundant nuclear factor well conserved, and has it been included in an experimental deletion or substitution that was found to alter the amount of expression?"

Where:

This project is an interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers in computer science and molecular biology at the Pennsylvania State University, USA, and hematology at McMaster University in Canada. For a list of individuals involved, please see How to contact us

The Future:

As this project evolves, the direction we ultimately take will depend on the needs of our user community. We welcome your suggestions to make this facility as useful as possible; please send them to: globin-gang