PHG Foundation | www.phgfoundation.org
The Wellcome Trust has launched a new website, “The Human Genome”. Subtitled “The human genome and what it means for society”, the site is pitched somewhere between the very simplified level of most sites for lay users, and the advanced level appropriate for professionals and researchers in the field. The site has four main themes: in the genome, genes and body, tackling disease, and genetics and society. Within each theme, articles on key topics are supplemented by news items from a variety of sources (including several selected from the PHGU website), more detailed feature articles, and background information, offering a layered approach so that the user can choose the depth to which he or she would like to explore the topic. Parallel strands of the site called Interactive Centre, Technology Centre and Around the Web offer, variously, some fancy web wizardry allowing the user to “browse” selected chromosomes and their genes; concise explanations of key technologies including PCR, SNP chips and mass spectrometry; and a round-up of web-based “news and views related to the human genome”. The site is information-rich, well written and well designed, though there is as yet no search feature and it is not clear how the information will be structured and archived – and pruned? - as the site grows.