About The National Center for Biotechnology Information

The National Center for Biotechnology Information publishes very useful scientific information on their official website, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. This website provides access to genomic and biomedical information in order to advance both health and science. The NCBI was founded in 1988 and it is located in Bethesda, Maryland. The official website of the Center provides a large collection of information which is relevant to biomedicine and biotechnology. The Internet is a source of a plethora of bioinformatic tools, but this website is a particularly good source of resources, tools and information which can be easily accessed.                                                                                     

The mission of the National Center for Biotechnology Information

The modern molecular biology has the aim to understand the nature’s mute, but elegant language of living cells. The challenge of the modern science is to find new approaches in order to deal with the complexity and volume of data and to provide researches with better access to computing tools in order to understand the human’s genetic legacy and its significance in disease and health. The National Center for Biotechnology Information was founded with the help of the late Senator Claude Pepper, who recognized that the conduct of biomedical research will be highly advanced through computerized information processing methods. The mission of the Center is to develop new information technologies which will help the scientists understand the fundamental genetic and molecular processes that control disease and health. The NCBI creates automated systems for analyzing and storing knowledge about genetics, biochemistry and biology; and it is also in charge for facilitating the use of such software and databases by the medical and research community. The Center performs research into advanced methods of information processing based on computer technology, for analyzing the function and structure of the biologically important molecules.                                       

The organizational structure of NCBI

The National Center for Biotechnology Information is organized in three branches: Information Resources Branch, Information Engineering Branch and Computational Biology Branch. All of these branches are represented on the official website of the Center. The Information Resources Branch is responsible for planning, directing and managing the technical operations of the Center, including the computer systems used to access public databases and those used for research and development. This branch provides technical assistance to the staff of the Center, as well as support to the external users of the Center’s network services. The Information Engineering Branch of NCBI is responsible for performing applied research in data analysis and representation, as well as for developing computer-based systems of retrieval, management and storage of knowledge associated to biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology. The Computational Biology Branch of the Center is responsible for conducting basic and applied research in theoretical, mathematical and computational problems in genetics and molecular biology.  

The importance of NCBI’s services: conclusion

The services of the NCBU are undeniably important, since it offers databases and software tools for information analysis in a comprehensive array. The scientific community benefits a lot form this Center, but the accessible information is also important to the public. The Center is quite successful in providing free access to scientific knowledge, which is not a common phenomenon in the world of modern biotech companies who guard their patents closely. The discipline of bioinformatics continues to grow and this center provides its services efficiently despite the overwhelming amount of knowledge.