As 2003 marks the completion of the human genome sequence and the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the DNA double helix, the Internet has exploded with noteworthy Web sites on the topic. The following represent just some of what the Web has to offer. The first site is the homepage of the National Human Genome Research Institute (1) -- a good place to start even if the content and presentation...

The Consensus CoDing Sequence (CCDS) Database "project is a collaborative effort to identify a core set of human protein-coding regions that are consistently annotated and of high quality. The long-term goal is to support convergence toward a standard set of gene annotations on the human genome." CCDS project collaborators include the National Center for Biotechnology (NCBI), European...

The purpose of this moderated newsgroup is to provide a proper forum for the discussion of issues pertaining to and involving genome and/or chromatin structure and function. Primarily it should enable those researchers who work in genome/chromatin structure or related fields to communicate ideas and information, as well as provide a chance for collaboration among national and international...

The Human Ageing Genomic Resources (HAGR)—currently led by Dr. João Pedro de Magalhães at the Harvard Medical School—is "a collection of databases and tools designed to help researchers understand the genetics of human ageing.” Two major searchable resources offered in HAGR are AnAge, a curated animal ageing database with more than 2,000 species; and GenAge, “a curated database of genes related to...

Both students and general users will appreciate this glossary, which is designed to help people with non-scientific backgrounds "to better understand the terms and concepts behind genetic research." Provided by NHGRI, which oversees the National Institutes of Health's role in the Human Genome Project (see the March 26, 1999 Scout Report), the glossary offers phonetic spelling, a brief definition,...

The journal Nature presents this online special feature on the recently sequenced Y chromosome. The Web site offers a number of free informative resources, including an account of the sequencing project as well as related scientific papers and letters published in the journal. An archive of Y chromosome-related articles are also available for registered users (no cost for registration). In all,...

Over the last few weeks, scientists announced they have completed mapping Chromosome 21, the chromosome associated with Down's syndrome, epilepsy, Lou Gehrig's disease, and Alzheimer's. Researchers hope the achievement will lead to treatments in the future. Nature Magazine, features a free page, Genome Gateway, with online original research papers from Nature and Nature Genetics relating to...

A project of the Sanger Institute, "The Vertebrate Genome Annotation (VEGA) database is designed to be a central repository for manual annotation of different vertebrate finished genome sequence. In collaboration with genome sequencing centres, Vega attempts to present consistent high-quality curation of finished sequence." The site currently links to Human, Mouse, and Zebrafish Annotation...

The first report of the international research consortium organized to map gene-based sequence tagged site markers is now available on the web as an integrated gene map. The human genome is thought to harbor 50,000 to 100,000 genes, of which about half have been sampled to date in the form of expressed sequence tags. More than 16,000 human genes have been mapped relative to a framework map that...

The week of 16 February 2001 scientists published a rough draft of the three billion letters of the human genetic code. Two complete sequences were actually released, one by a consortium of publicly funded laboratories and the other by a private venture, Celera Genomics. To mark this event, Science published the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium and the US National Human Genome...