BIOINFORMATICS IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
| Pages | 51-68 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb026961 |
| Published date | 01 January 1996 |
| Date | 01 January 1996 |
| Author | NICHOLAS J. COLE,DAVID BAWDEN |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
BIOINFORMATICS IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
NICHOLAS J. COLE
(nickc@searcher.demon.co.uk)
Celltech Therapeutics Ltd, 216 Bath Road
Slough, Berkshire SL1 4EN
and
DAVID BAWDEN
(d. bawden@is.city.ac.uk)
Department of Information Science, City University
Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HV
A review was carried out of the 'information landscape' within the
pharmaceuticals-based molecular biology community, which exam-
ined the research problems requiring biological-sequence data, impor-
tant sources of information, methods of
access,
information-seeking
behaviour of end users and the role of libraries and information
centres. This work concentrated on the practical aspects of how
biological sequence information is managed and used in a research
setting and was carried out as part of
the
MSc in Information Science
at the City University. Fifteen questionnaires were sent to infor-
mation scientists in the
UK
pharmaceutical industry and a user study
was carried out amongst scientists at Celltech. Most of
the
important
primary data are available freely or cheaply via the Internet and
molecular biologists were found to be self-reliant in their use of these
resources. Currency of information was found to be very important
in the research process and the issue of Internet security was taken
very seriously. Most questionnaire respondents saw a productive role
in the future for information workers in the
field
of molecular biology,
citing end-user training and data integration as possible roles,
although the degree of involvement will depend on the particular mix
of
skills
and experience that exist within an information department.
INTRODUCTION
Background and aims
PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH is highly information-intensive and infor-
mation professionals have a long tradition of helping the
R&D
effort within
drug companies, where they have used their skills in information management,
database design, online searching
etc.
to good effect. A pharmaceutical research
information department would typically employ a number of information
Journal
of
Documentation,
vol. 52, no. 1, March 1996, pp. 51-68
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JOURNAL OF DOCUMENTATION vol. 52, no. 1
scientists who are subject specialists, to search biological, biomedical and
chemical online databases on behalf of end users. These databases would
normally be classified as bibliographic, full-text, numeric, directory, chemical
structure or chemical reaction-type, although, until recently, information
workers would not have found it necessary to carry out, for example, a
homology search in a biological sequence database. This situation is now begin-
ning to change due to the increasing role of biotechnology in drug research.
The aim of this research project was to map out the 'information landscape'
within the pharmaceuticals-based molecular biology community, using the activ-
ities at Celltech as an example and by interviewing relevant information workers
from the
UK
pharmaceutical industry. Quite a lot has been written surveying the
different data banks in molecular biology but the practical aspects of managing
and using this information in an organisational setting are rarely discussed. The
findings should be useful for anyone involved with the setting up of molecular
biology information systems, information management policies and in develop-
ing strategies for meeting the needs of scientists.
What is bioinfonnatics?
The origin of the word 'bioinformatics' is hard to trace although it is normally
used to encompass the generation, handling, storage and retrieval of biological
sequence data, i.e. the sequences of nucleotides that make up the
DNA
of genes
and the sequences of amino acids that form the primary structure of the proteins
for which the genes code. According to Boguski [1], information science and
technology (informatics) became a serious issue for biologists in the mid 1970s
following the development of rapid
DNA
sequencing techniques. Since then, the
amount of sequence data (and also gene mapping and protein crystal structure
data) has grown exponentially and is now also being fuelled by data emerging
from the world-wide Human Genome Mapping Project. The growth rate of
Genbank and
EMBL
(European Molecular Biology Laboratory) databases has
been exponential for the last five years; the latest release of Genbank (release
80.0) contains 164 megabases of sequence and the size is currently doubling
every twenty-one months [2]. It is expected that, over the next decade,
biomolecular databanks will grow between seven and sixty-fold [3].
Boguski considers the term bioinformatics to be wide in scope, involving
computational analysis, databases and 'everything from laboratory automation
and data acquisition to electronic publishing'. Andrew Lyall of Glaxo (personal
communication) says the Glaxo interpretation of the word is made up of three
elements as follows:
1.
Computational genetics - encompassing activities such as the Human
Genome Mapping Project and covering physical and logical genetic
mapping.
2.
Computation relating to molecular genetics, including sequence deter-
mination. This would also cover the automatic reading of data from
automatic gene-sequencing machines.
3.
Computation relating to three-dimensional protein structure
determination.
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