CA15205 - Gene Regulation Ensemble Effort for the Knowledge Commons (GREEKC)

Biological knowledge discovery is becoming increasingly dependent on computational modelling and simulation. Model building requires comprehensive knowledge bases describing biological entities and their interactions. Dedicated action is needed to enter such knowledge in knowledge bases, as scientific results cannot be effectively shared with the community through publications alone: their information content needs to be carefully checked, or curated, and archived in standardised formats in public resources, to become broadly available for computational integration and analysis. Existing resources are significantly fragmented, have limited coverage, may not be compliant with existing data standards or have no documented quality control procedures. Most initiatives for standardising the description, recording and exchange of biological data have been shaped by needs arising from specific molecule- or data types, and not by the challenge to cover all subdomains of a complete biological process domain. GREEKC, also known as GRECO (Gene Regulation Consortium, www.theGRECO.org), specifically targets the domain of gene regulation: transcription factors interacting with the genome and RNA synthesis machinery, orchestrated by a complex web of signal transduction molecules, thus crucial to fully comprehend cellular control mechanisms at the systems level. GRECO aims to establish communication and foster coordination of activities of all existing groups in Europe who actively generate and collate data on gene regulation. By including global partners, SMEs, publishing houses, policy makers and funding agencies in designing the “Gene Regulation Knowledge Commons”, this Action will set the stage for the development of one integrated knowledge management framework for this key area of molecular biology.