The Rat Genome Database at 20: a Multi-Species Knowledgebase and Analysis Platform Jennifer R
Published online 12 November 2019 Nucleic Acids Research, 2020, Vol. 48, Database issue D731–D742 doi: 10.1093/nar/gkz1041 The Year of the Rat: The Rat Genome Database at 20: a multi-species knowledgebase and analysis platform Jennifer R. Smith 1,*, G. Thomas Hayman1, Shur-Jen Wang1, Stanley J.F. Laulederkind 1, Matthew J. Hoffman1,2, Mary L. Kaldunski 1, Monika Tutaj1, Jyothi Thota1,Harika S. Nalabolu1, Santoshi L.R. Ellanki1, Marek A. Tutaj1, Jeffrey L. De Pons1, Anne E. Kwitek2, Melinda R. Dwinell2 and Mary E. Shimoyama1 1Rat Genome Database, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA and 2Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine Center and Department of Physiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA Received September 15, 2019; Revised October 21, 2019; Editorial Decision October 22, 2019; Accepted October 24, 2019 ABSTRACT In contrast to the current wealth of data and tools, the ‘bare bones’ first iteration (Figure 1,Table1) focused on just a few Formed in late 1999, the Rat Genome Database (RGD, data types––most notably a handful of known genes, plus https://rgd.mcw.edu) will be 20 in 2020, the Year of the EST and SSLP markers––localized only on genetic and RH Rat. Because the laboratory rat, Rattus norvegicus, maps, and offered a minimal number of tools for searching has been used as a model for complex human dis- and analyzing that data. eases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, can- Even before the first public release of the rat reference cer, neurological disorders and arthritis, among oth- genome in 2002 (1), RGD was focused on mapping disease- ers, for >150 years, RGD has always been disease- related regions and on comparative genomics between rat, focused and committed to providing data and tools human and mouse to support the use of rat as a model for for researchers doing comparative genomics and human disease.
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