GIST: A web tool for collecting gene information

As the human genome is sequenced and annotated, an important step in future genetic studies of complex traits and diseases will be the identification of relevant candidate genes. To enable such compilations, it would be usefu l to collate all necessary and available genetic information for each candi date gene. To this end, we have created a web tool (http://genome.cwru.edu/ gist/gist.html) to allow the rapid cataloging of currently available geneti c data. This tool, called GIST (or "Gene Information Search Tool"), allows an investigator to search the major genomic databases containing gene and m arker information from a single query point. To prove the utility of GIST, a catalog of 150 hypertension candidate genes was created. This resource co llates all available nucleotide and amino acid sequence data, expression da ta, chromosomal map location, and genetic marker interval for each gene, co llected from on-line databases. These data can be used to guide genetic stu dies of hypertension.