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2005; Future Science Ltd; Volume: 39; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Suaíli

10.2144/05394ww01

1940-9818

Kevin Ahern,

Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology

BioTechniquesVol. 39, No. 4 WebWatchOpen AccessWebWatchKevin AhernKevin AhernPublished Online:30 May 2018https://doi.org/10.2144/05394WW01AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Oozing BeautyIf you were to go only by the description that opens these pages—"They're slimy, oozy, and flimsy"—or if you were ever on the receiving end of their toxin-injecting nematocysts, you probably wouldn't use the word "beautiful" to describe the subjects of this informative, picture-packed web site. On the other hand, if you spend a minute or two looking at Dave Wrobel's artistic photography, of cni-darians, how could you think that the jellyfish and other zooplankton are anything but a feast for the eyes? JelliesZone.com is also cram-packed with information, ranging from how to photograph these creatures to how to keep them in captivity. A thorough classification scheme helps position the organisms taxonomically, and an extensive set of references will surely satisfy scientific appetites as well.jellieszone.comCharting Cellular TerrainIf you have ever stared at cellular metabolic pathways, you probably mused about their resemblance to highway roadmaps. As research unravels more of the terrain of communication behind the metabolic pathways, surprise (!) they too look like roadmaps, though even more extensively interconnected. At Cytoscape, visitors can download free software that not only helps to read cellular maps, it also enables users to create or extend them. Designed as an open source product, Cytoscape software runs on all major platforms and is an important tool for systems biology. Tremendous bang for the buck, especially in view of the cost.www.cytocape.orgCell CenteredHome to stunning 3-D cellular reconstructed images from confocal, multiphoton, and electron microscopy data, the Cell Centered Database is a great place to view cellular structures of rats and mice in all their splendor. Freely accessible for noncommercial use after registration, the collection centers on cells of the nervous system. 3-D clips come down mostly in formats that can be opened in QuickTime, so they can be watched on most computer systems. Views are made possible actually through movies that contain rotating, transparent perspectives that give the "feel" of 3-D as they revolve. Some of them are so vivid as to make one feel voyeuristic. Besides the 3-D whiz-bang, still views and an extensive set of image information are also available via a searchable database format.ccdb.ucsd.edu/CCDB/index.shtmlBioprogrammingIf you're a software user, the term "open source" probably just means "free software," but to a programmer, the movement is more about access to code and interoperability between computing environments, among other things. Regardless of the intent, the product is good news for providing diverse software sources for everyone. The Open Bioinformatic Foundation is a volunteer, nonprofit organization supporting open source bioinformatics programming. It organizes numerous integrative initiatives specific to in biologists' needs. These include BioPerl, BioJava, BioPython, and BioRuby programming environments and the EMBOSS open source molecular biology software collection. A great place for both bioprogrammers and end-users looking for freebies.www.open-bio.orgBad News BugsIf you hurry up and check out the VectorBase site, you just might get a glimpse of the moving van pulling away, because at about the publication time of this issue, the move of information from AnoBase (anobase.org) to VectorBase is supposed to be complete. Frank Collins, one of the organizers of both sites says the new VectorBase site will cover a broader range of vectors than AnoBase did. The new site is most welcome, considering the rise in mosquito-borne disease, like West Nile Virus, that has become almost epidemic in places. VectorBase, which houses sequence databases of insect vectors, chose the ENSEMBL genome browser to display genomic data because of its intuitive look and feel. Take a peek and you'll probably agree. Extensive map and sequence information is literally only one point and one click away.www.vectorbase.orgFiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 39, No. 4 STAY CONNECTED Metrics History Published online 30 May 2018 Published in print October 2005 Information© 2005 Author(s)PDF download