Data visualization with SABIO-VIS

Collecting and curating data has never been more important – especially for systems biology. If already existing data isn’t available to other researchers, it may happen that the same experiment is conducted multiple times, which means a loss of time, resources and knowledge. In order to make data more accessible to everyone, the Scientific Databases and Visualization (SDBV) group at HITS developed the database SABIO-RK, a curated database containing structured information about biochemical reactions. The database was developed a few years ago at HITS and currently collects the data from scientific publications of the past 50 years.

The new project SABIO-VIS will add new visualization features to the database, making the data even more usable for the community. Interactive tools will enable the users to decide which data they want to see and in which way it will be visualized. The visualization will mainly facilitate the illustration and summary of the existing data. Apart from that, it will also ensure the quality and usability of the data sets.

The project has received a three-year funding by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (FKZ 031L0178). The HITS researchers Ulrike Wittig (biocurator) and Dorotea Dudas (software developer) will be working closely with the current users to tailor the new feature to the needs of the scientific community. The main target groups of SABIO-RK and SABIO-VIS are their already active community as well as other modelers and experimentalists in the life sciences.