Workshop on Computerization of Data Bases for Genetic Stock Collections; Toronto, Canada; August 25, 1988

遗传资源中心是实验室常用生物不可缺少的资源库。这些中心通过提供遗传定义的菌株和物种，从而为基础研究和应用研究提供一套标准化的活实验室模型，从而促进现代遗传学、分类学和生物技术研究。在许多情况下，库存中心还保存了大量关于它们所分发的生物的数据，包括遗传图谱、标准化等位基因名称、相关生物的可用性信息以及关于这些生物的研究出版物的综合参考书目。例如，被引用最多的描述大肠杆菌基因图谱的生物学出版物是由耶鲁大学大肠杆菌基因库中心主任芭芭拉巴赫曼博士撰写的。由于库存中心保存的数据的规模和广度都在不断增长，因此开始要求使用计算机来对这些数据进行跟踪。因此，作为第十六届国际遗传学大会的一部分，将于1988年8月25日举行题为“遗传库存中心数据库计算机化”的讲习班。讲习班的主要目的是查明库存中心对数据库的需要，为交流各库存中心已建立的数据库的资料提供一个论坛，并促进就这些地点的硬件和软件设计作出最终决定。参与者的选择是基于他们维护和分配具有遗传特征的重要生物种群的责任以及他们的计算机科学背景。将发表讲习班的调查结果摘要；这对于库存中心的管理者来说是非常重要的，它将帮助NSF更合理地规划其当前和未来数据库工作的资金分配。

Genetic stock centers are indispensible repositories of commonly used laboratory organisms. These centers facilitate modern genetic, taxonomic and biotechnological research by making available genetically defined strains and species, thus providing a standardized set of living laboratory models for use in both basic and applied research. In many cases, the stock centers also maintain considerable amounts of data about the organisms they distribute, including genetic maps, standardized allele designations, information on availability of related organisms, and comprehensive bibliographies of research publications on the organisms. For example, the most-cited biological publication, describing the genetic map of the bacterium Escherichi coli, was written by the Director of the E. coli genetic stock center, Dr. Barbara Bachmann of Yale University. The growing magnitude and breadth of data maintained at stock centers have begun to mandate that computers be used to keep track of them. Consequently, a workshop on the topic "Computerization of Data Bases for Genetic Stock Centers" will be held on August 25, 1988, as part of the sixteenth International Congress of Genetics. The main aims of the workshop are to discern the databasing needs of stock centers, to provide a forum for the exchange of information on databases that have already been developed at various stock centers, and to facilitate ultimate decisions on hardware and design of software for such sites. Participants have been selected based on their responsibilities for maintenance and distribution of genetically characterized stocks of genetically important organisms and for their computer science backgrounds. A summary of the workshop's findings will be published; it will have great importance for stock center managers and will help NSF plan more rationally its allocation of funds to current and future databasing efforts.