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Our Mission
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General Introduction
Understanding nature's mute but elegant language of living cells
is the quest of modern molecular biology. From an alphabet of only
four letters representing the chemical subunits of DNA emerges
a syntax of life processes whose most complex expression is man.
The unraveling and use of this "alphabet" to form new
"words and phrases" is a central focus of the field of
molecular biology. The staggering volume of molecular data and its
cryptic and subtle patterns have led to an absolute requirement
for computerized databases and analysis tools. The challenge is
in finding new approaches to deal with the volume and complexity
of data and in providing researchers with better access to analysis
and computing tools to advance understanding of our genetic
legacy and its role in health and disease.
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Creating NCBI
The late Senator Claude Pepper recognized the importance of computerized
information processing methods for the conduct of biomedical research
and sponsored legislation that established the National Center for
Biotechnology Information (NCBI) on November 4, 1988, as a division
of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes
of Health (NIH). NLM was chosen for its experience in creating and
maintaining biomedical databases, and because as part of NIH, it
could establish an intramural research program in computational
molecular biology. The collective research components of NIH make
up the largest biomedical research facility in the world.
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Basic Research
As a national resource for molecular biology information, NCBI's
mission is to develop new information technologies to aid in the
understanding of fundamental molecular and genetic processes that
control health and disease. More specifically, the NCBI has been
charged with creating automated systems for storing and analyzing
knowledge about molecular biology, biochemistry, and genetics; facilitating
the use of such databases and software by the research and medical
community; coordinating efforts to gather biotechnology information
both nationally and internationally; and performing research into
advanced methods of computer-based information processing for analyzing
the structure and function of biologically important molecules.
To carry out its diverse responsibilities, NCBI:
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conducts research on fundamental biomedical problems at the
molecular level using mathematical and computational methods
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maintains collaborations with several NIH institutes, academia,
industry, and other governmental agencies
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fosters scientific communication by sponsoring meetings, workshops,
and lecture series
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supports training on basic and applied research in computational
biology for postdoctoral fellows through the NIH Intramural
Research Program
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engages members of the international scientific community in
informatics research and training through the Scientific Visitors
Program
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develops, distributes, supports, and coordinates access to
a variety of databases and software for the scientific and medical
communities
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develops and promotes standards for databases, data deposition
and exchange, and biological nomenclature
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Revised: May 21, 2004.
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