|
 What is GenBank?
GenBank® is the NIH genetic sequence database, an annotated
collection of all publicly available DNA sequences (Nucleic Acids Research 2002 Jan 1;30(1):17-20). There are approximately
22,617,000,000 bases in 18,197,000 sequence records as of August 2002
(see GenBank growth statistics).
As an example, you may view the record
for a Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene. The complete release
notes for the current version of GenBank are available. A new release
is made every two months. GenBank is part of the International
Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration, which comprises
the DNA DataBank of Japan (DDBJ), the European Molecular Biology Laboratory
(EMBL), and GenBank at NCBI. These three organizations exchange data on
a daily basis.
Submissions to GenBank
Many journals require submission of sequence
information to a database prior to publication so that an accession
number may appear in the paper. NCBI has a WWW form, called BankIt, for
convenient and quick submission of sequence data. Sequin, NCBI's
stand-alone submission software for MAC, PC, and UNIX platforms, is also available
by FTP. When using Sequin, the output files for direct submission should
be sent to GenBank by electronic mail.
There are specialized, streamlined procedures for batch submissions of
sequences, such as
EST,
STS, and
HTG sequences.
Updating or Revising a Sequence
Revisions or updates to GenBank entries can be made at any time and can
be accepted as BankIt
or Sequin files or as the text of an e-mail message. Be
sure to give the accession number of the sequence to be updated in the subject
line. Send it to:
update@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Access to GenBank
GenBank is available for searching at NCBI
via several methods.
The GenBank database is designed to provide and encourage
access within the scientific community to the most up to date
and comprehensive DNA sequence information. Therefore, NCBI
places no restrictions on the use or distribution of the GenBank
data. However, some submitters may claim patent, copyright, or
other intellectual property rights in all or a portion of the
data they have submitted. NCBI is not in a position to assess
the validity of such claims, and therefore cannot provide comment
or unrestricted permission concerning the use, copying, or
distribution of the information contained in GenBank.
New Developments
NCBI is continuously developing new tools and enhancing existing ones
to improve both submission and access to GenBank. The easiest way to
keep abreast of these and other developments is to check the "What's New"
section of the NCBI Web page and to read the NCBI News,
which is also available by free subscription.
Revised February 21, 2003
| 
