Enhanced Access to
Taxonomy Database

New Human-Mouse
Homology Map

Catch the Gene
Expression Omnibus

A Pair of Pathogens
Added to GenBank

Protein Molecular
Weight Field
Now in Entrez

OMIM In Entrez:
New Searching Power

Web Server
Software Available
for BLAST

Recent Publications

News Briefs

BLAST Lab

PSI-BLAST 2.1
Offers Compostion-
Based Statistics

Slight Address Change
for NCBI FTP Server

Masthead

The Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database has been integrated into the Entrez suite of databases. This offers more powerful searching and flexibility, and takes advantage of Entrez’s extensive cross-referencing to find related records in other Entrez databases. There are links to other related resources as well, such as LocusLink, UniGene, locus-specific databases, and more.

While preserving the functions of the previous OMIM search system, Entrez provides a range of new capabilities, including a Limits function that easily restricts searches by chromosome number, search field, or various record attributes. It is also possible to display multiple records in a number of formats, store selected records in the Clipboard, and combine the results of two or more searches using the History function.

For example, to find OMIM records associated with cancer on chromosome 20, enter the term “cancer” in the search box and check chromosome 20 on the Limits page, accessible from the gray bar under the search box. This search retrieves records containing the search term “cancer” in any field. To retrieve only records containing the term “cancer” in their titles, check the box for the Title field on the Limits page as well.

From the search results page, records can be displayed individually or as a group. In either case, links beside the MIM number lead to related entries in OMIM and other Entrez databases. The LinkOut option leads to associated records in a variety of resources at NCBI, such as LocusLink, and elsewhere. When each entry is displayed individually, a customized blue sidebar is shown, providing a table of contents for that entry. When applicable, colored buttons provide additional links to UniGene, RefSeq, GenBank, and locus-specific databases.

The Help document and FAQ provide additional details, examples, and search tips. Links to related NCBI databases and allied resources are also provided. To try the new search interface, select OMIM from the Entrez home page at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Entrez. —RM, BR

---