Ensembl is a bioinformatics research project aiming to "develop a software system which produces and maintains automatic annotation on selected eukaryotic genomes". It is run in a collaboration between the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the European Bioinformatics Institute, an outstation of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. All data and all software that is produced in the project can be freely accessed and used. Bioinformatics or computational biology is the use of techniques from applied mathematics, informatics, statistics, and computer science to solve biological problems. ... The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (formally the Sanger Centre) is a genome research centre in Cambridgeshire, England. ... The European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) part of EMBL is a centre for research and services in bioinformatics. ... The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) is a molecular biology research institution supported by 18 European countries. ...

Most of the software produced and used is written in the language Perl and is based on the BioPerl infrastructure. The Perl API can be easily employed in other genomic projects e.g. for the annotation of gene or clone lists. Also avilable is an API in Java. Perl, (also backronymed as Practical Extraction and Report Language, see below) is an interpreted procedural programming language designed by Larry Wall. ... BioPerl is a tookit of perl modules useful in building bioinformatics solutions in Perl. ... API with 3 clients, using the Unified Modeling Language notation An application programming interface (API) is a set of definitions of the ways one piece of computer software communicates with another. ... Java is an object-oriented programming language developed initially by James Gosling and colleagues at Sun Microsystems. ...

The annotated genomes include most finnished vertebrates and selected model organisms, currently this includes: Genome is also a popular science book by Matt Ridley. ... Groups Conodonta Hyperoartia Petromyzontidae (lampreys) Pteraspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Thelodonti Anaspida Cephalaspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Galeaspida Pituriaspida Osteostraci Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) Placodermi Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) Acanthodii Osteichthyes (bony fish) Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) Actinistia (coelacanths) Dipnoi (lungfish) Tetrapoda Amphibia Amniota Sauropsida/(Reptiles) Aves (Birds) Synapsida Mammalia... A model organism is one that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the workings of other organisms. ...

• Chordates
  • Mammals: Human, Mouse, Rat, Chimp, Dog, Cow, Elephant, Opossum (preliminary data)
  • Birds: Chicken
  • Fish: Takifugu rubripes (Fugu), Tetradodon nigroviridis, Danio rerio (Zebrafish)
  • Frog: Xenopus tropicalis
  • Ancient relatives: Ciona intestinalis, Ciona savignyi
• Invertebrates
  • Insects: Anopheles gambiae (Mosqito), Honeybee, Drosophila melanogaster (Fruitfly)
  • Worm: Caenorhabditis elegans
• Yeast: Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Baker's yeast)

The service is used by molecular biologists and bioinformaticians around the world working with genome data of the above organisms. The predictions of coding, controlling and other elements in the genomes can be compared with primary research data and with common repositories of current genomic knowlege (Biological Databases). The comparison of organisms (comparative genomics or also intergenomics) with respect to their gene structures and the coded proteins is of special interest and it supports Darwin's theories. The synteny view can be useful educational material for school classes. Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level. ... Bioinformatics or computational biology is the use of techniques from applied mathematics, informatics, statistics, and computer science to solve biological problems. ... // Overview Comparative genomics is the study of relationships between the genomes of different species. ... In his lifetime Charles Darwin gained international fame as a controversial and influential scientist. ... Synteny is the preserved order of genes between related organisms. ...

External links

• Ensembl