National Center for Biotechnology Information

National Center for Biotechnology Information: biomedical and genomic data infrastructure

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is a U.S. institution whose activity focuses on facilitating access to biomedical and genomic information. According to its own presentation, its purpose is to advance science and health by providing access to that type of information. The site identifies itself as an official United States government site, hosted under the .gov domain, and is part of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), which in turn is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Databases and available resources

NCBI maintains and provides access to a broad set of databases and resources. Among the listed resources are:

• PubMed, Bookshelf, and PubMed Central, focused on scientific literature.
• BLAST, for sequence comparison.
• Nucleotide, Genome, SNP, Gene, and Protein, focused on sequences and genes.
• PubChem, dedicated to chemical compounds and bioassays.
• Other databases such as Assembly, BioProject, BioSample, ClinVar, Conserved Domains, dbGaP, dbVar, GEO DataSets, GEO Profiles, GTR, Identical Protein Groups, MedGen, MeSH, NLM Catalog, OMIM, PMC, Protein Clusters, Protein Family Models, PubChem BioAssay, PubChem Compound, PubChem Substance, SRA, Structure, Taxonomy, and ToolKit.

These resources are grouped into thematic categories such as Chemicals & Bioassays, Data & Software, DNA & RNA, Domains & Structures, Genes & Expression, Genetics & Medicine, Genomes & Maps, Homology, Literature, Proteins, Sequence Analysis, Taxonomy, Training & Tutorials, and Variation.

Functions for researchers and developers

The site organizes its services into several main functions. It allows users to submit or deposit data and manuscripts into NCBI databases, as well as download data to a computer. It offers help documentation, classes, and tutorials for learning. It also facilitates the use of APIs and code libraries to develop applications, and provides tools to identify the appropriate option for a data analysis task. In addition, NCBI conducts research and collaborative projects.

Institutional structure and location

NCBI is part of the National Library of Medicine, headquartered at 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894. The institution is part of the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States. The site includes sections on its mission, organization, news, and blog, and offers a beta version of its homepage.

Location and contact

8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894