Search

The Human Genome Project has deeply transformed biology and the field has since then expanded to the management, processing, analysis and visualization of large quantities of data from genomics, proteomics, medicinal chemistry and drug screening. This huge amount of data and the heterogeneity of software tools that are used implies the adoption on a very large scale of new, flexible tools that can enable researchers to integrate data and analysis on the network. ICT technology standards and tools, like Web Services and related languages, and workflow management systems, can support the creation and deployment of such systems. While a number of Web Services are appearing and personal workflow management systems are also being more and more offered to researchers, a reference portal enabling the vast majority of unskilled researchers to take profit from these new technologies is still lacking. In this paper, we introduce the rationale for the creation of such a portal and present the architecture and some preliminary results for the development of a portal for the enactment of workflows of interest in oncology.

A new look at the transcription start is presented in which we can see transcription factors binding to both sides of the TSS as an essential requirement. Naturally the factor binding to the downstream region must be removed so that transcription process can continue. The presence of a number of distinct transcription factors also can be used to explain selective activation of various genes. The transcription start site by itself plays only a minor role in the whole process. We also suggest that mutations close to the TSS on the coding side can be fatal even if preserves the codon table.