NAR Molecular Biology Database Collection entry number 122

http://atlasgeneticsoncology.org/

Huret JL¹, Dessen P², Bernheim A²

¹Genetics, Dept of Medical Information, UMR 1599 CNRS-IGR, University Hospital, F-86021 Poitiers, France
²Genetics and Oncology UMR 1599 CNRS, Institut Gustave Roussy PR2, 94805 Villejuif, France

Contact j.l.huret@chu-poitiers.fr

The Atlas of Genetics and Cytogenetics in Oncology and Haematology http://www.infobiogen.fr/services/chromcancer contains concise and updated cards on cancer related genes, chromosomal abnormalities, cancers, and cancer-prone diseases, a portal towards genetics/cancer, and teaching materials in genetics (1-3). This database is made for and by researchers and clinicians, who are encouraged to contribute. Contributions are reviewed before acceptance.

Database Structure
Cards: well structured papers which represent the body of the Atlas. Cards on genes include data on: DNA/RNA, protein, mutations, and diseases. Cards on leukemias and solid tumours include data on: clinics, cytogenetics, genes, hybrid gene and fusion protein. Cards on cancer-prone diseases include data on: inheritance mode, clinics, neoplastic risk, cytogenetics, genes and proteins, mutations. Cards also include hyperlinks towards Medline, and towards the main complementary databases (nomenclature, cartography, gene structure, transcripts, proteins, domain families, diseases, mutations, probes). Pages classified by chromosome present genes and diseases and also point towards external resources.
Deep Insights/Case Reports: Deep insights are review articles. The Case Reports Section is dedicated to rare cytogenetic entities of leukemia to document these poorly known entities, to further delineate their epidemiology, including the associated prognosis: the Atlas intend to provide new information in cancer epidemiology.
Portal: towards Internet databases devoted to genetics and/or cancer, and towards 100 journals, with specific pages on both the lattest issue and the archives, with indications on free access when available. Teaching materials in Genetics are being developed in English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish, and we are (still) looking for an Italian translation. We are happy that some Universities already use the Atlas for teaching; they can also provide us with more authors.

Comments
The Atlas is a peer reviewed on-line journal and database indexed by the Current Contents. More than a 260 collaborators are contributing and more than 600 papers are available. More than 28 000 individual machines connect each month. The Atlas is part of the genome project and participates in the research in cancer epidemiology. The Atlas is at the crossroads of research, university and post-university teaching (virtual medical university), and telemedicine. It contributes to meta-medicine, this mediation, using new information technology, between the overflowing information provided by the scientific community and the individual practitioner. Contributions and collaborations are MOST welcome. It will serve the entire community of clinicians, researchers, and students

The Atlas is funded by: Ministère de la Recherche, Ministère de l’ Education Nationale, Département de la Vienne, Communauté d’ Agglomération de Poitiers, Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer (Charente, Cher, Corrèze, Indre, et Poitou-Charentes), and benefits from INFOBIOGEN resources.

1. Huret,J.L., Dessen,P. and Bernheim,A. (2001) Atlas of Genetics and Cytogenetics in Oncology and Haematology, Updated. Nucleic Acids Res., 29, 303-304.
2. Kaiser,J. (2001) Fingerprinting a killer. Science 292, 1803. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/292/5523/1803b
3. Pearson,H. (2001) Lifelines: browsing the cancer catalogue. Nature Science Update 30 May 2001. http://www.nature.com/nsu/010531/010531-8.html#

Go to the abstract in the NAR 2003 Database Issue.

Oxford University Press is not responsible for the content of external internet sites