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The rapid changes afoot in genomics, bioinformatics, and gene medicine are forcing scientists, policymakers, and the public alike to grapple with some unfamiliar terminology. The Web, fortunately, offers a rich supply of online glossaries and dictionaries to help make sense of it all. A bit too rich, in fact; to narrow down the choices, we've gathered on this page some of the better online glossaries out there.
We've awarded a rosette ( ) to the top sites in selected categories, and a star ( ) to denote additional standout resources. In conferring these rankings, we've tended to favor comprehensive sites that make good use of the Web, through functionality such as internal hyperlinking of related terms. (Those not so honored are still excellent, however, and are well worth a visit.)
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Genetics and genomics
Glossaries focusing on genetics and genomics, particularly with respect to the human genome.
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- Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms (from the National Human Genome Research Institute)
- Although not the most comprehensive of the many online genomics glossaries, the NHGRI's entry is the best-known, the most accessible, and ultimately the most fun. You can search or browse a list of 188 terms in the database, each linked to a cogent definition, related terms, and, in some cases, illustrations. What gives this resource extra interest, though, are accompanying streaming-audio elaborations, each a minute or so in length, by various scientists (here's an example, for the term suicide gene). Listening to these definitions can give the general-audience user an interesting (if rather alphabetical) introductory course on genomics.
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- A Genetics Glossary (from the Biology Teaching Organisation at the University of Edinburgh)
- Though it bills itself as a genetics resource, the actual ground covered by this site ranges into cell biology, development, and other areas. Brief, to-the-point definitions (more suitable for those already reasonably well versed in the life sciences than for the layperson) are provided for many hundreds of terms.
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- Human Genome Acronym List
- Not exactly a glossary, but an extremely useful list of abbreviations for some 300 organizations and terms in genetics.
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- Terminologie du génie génétique
- French-language resource hosted at the Université René Descartes. Includes a page of English-French equivalents for selected terms.
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- Genetics Glossary (from Genetics Education Center, U of Kansas Medical Center)
- Brief, straightforward definitions of around 200 terms. No cross-linking of terms.
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General biology, molecular biology, and biochemistry
Dictionaries and glossaries with a more general life-science orientation.
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- Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology
- Widely cited online rendering of the third edition (1999) of the reference work by Lackie and Dow, published in hardcopy by Academic Press. The site covers 7,072 terms in cell and molecular biology. The definitions are aimed at a specialist audience, and cross-linking is generally good. Some disadvantages: Individual definitions sometimes load very slowly, and access is (in theory, at least) limited to one day out of every 90 for those who don't own the print edition.
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- Glossary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Online version of the concise glossary by David Glick, published in print by Portland Press and aimed at advanced students and "workers in related fields who wish to converse with other biochemists or molecular biologists in their native tongue." Not as comprehensive as the previous two entries ("only" around 3,000 terms), but very fast, with a simple, intuitive user interface. Nice job.
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- Molecular Biology Glossary
- Billed as a "quick and dirty reference" to molbio terms, this guide (by R. H. Lyons of the University of Michigan DNA Sequencing Core) targets the specialist, and isn't long on Web bells and whistles. Its well-crafted definitions and explanations, however, are a real pleasure to read, and are supplemented by useful diagrams.
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Post-genomics, biotech, and bioinformatics
The flowering of functional genomics, proteomics, biotechnology, and bioinformatics has led to a profusion of new terminology, much of which is intimidating for those not steeped in a given discipline. Here are some resources to help you come to grips with it.
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- Genomics Glossaries
- Extraordinary, one-of-a-kind site by Mary Chitty of Cambridge Healthtech Institute, a company in the business of organizing biotech and biomedical conferences worldwide. In addition to a variety of glossaries on general genomics, the site features targeted treatments of functional genomics, proteomics, drug discovery, pharmacogenomics, microarrays, structural genomics, and several dozen other topics. The strong focus on, and lengthy treatment of, post-genomics topics makes this an invaluable resource.
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- GeneEd Biotechnology Glossary
- Very attractively designed and comprehensive site from GeneEd, a marketer of electronic multimedia courses for corporate and education clients. The glossary covers a wide variety of biology, biotech, and bioinformatics terms, and is intentionally pitched at a wide audience. Selecting a term opens a pop-up window with the definition. Disadvantages: Definitions aren't cross-linked to related terms, and the site runs only in JavaScript-enabled browsers.
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Medical genomics
Glossaries and dictionaries with a particular focus on genetic medicine, gene therapy, and disease-associated genes.
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- On-line Medical Dictionary
- An offering of the Gray Laboratory's cancer education site, CancerWEB, this reference encompasses a vast array of biomedical definitions -- 65,000 in all. A straight alphabetical query returns an intimidating, run-on list of linked terms (more than ten screens long, for example, for the letter H); fortunately, there's a reasonably sophisticated search engine that makes things more manageable. The site also organizes definitions by subject area, and features an addictive "Random" button that spits out a random definition from the huge database.
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Specific organisms and topics
Finally, we list below (in no particular order) a number of glossaries geared for students of particular organisms or biological subtopics, that aren't easily subsumed in the general categories above.
Know of a useful glossary we've missed? E-mail us the URL at sfg-feedback{at}aaas.org.
Rose icon from Barry's Clipart Server, © 1999-2001 www.barrysclipart.com.
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