Olfactory receptor database: a database of the largest eukaryotic gene family

The Olfactory Receptor Database (ORDB) is a WWW-accessible database that st ores data on Olfactory Receptor-like molecules (ORs) and has been open to t he public since June 1996. it contains a public and a private area. The pub lic area includes published DNA and protein sequence data for ORs, links to OR models and data on their expression, chromosomal localization and sourc e organism, as well as (i) links to bibliography through PubMed and (ii) in teractive WWW-based tools, such as BLAST homology searching. The private ar ea functions as a service to laboratories that are actively cloning recepto rs, Source laboratories enter the sequences of the receptor clones they hav e characterized to the private database and can search for identical or nea r identical OR sequences in both public and private databases. If another l aboratory has cloned and deposited an identical or closely matching sequenc e there are means for communication between the laboratories to help avoid duplication of work. ORDB is available via the WWW at http://crepe.med.yale .edu/ORDB/HTML.