The Gene Wiki is a project within

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...

that aims to describe the relationships and functions of all human

gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...

s. It was established to transfer information from scientific resources to Wikipedia stub articles. The Gene Wiki project also initiated publication of gene-specific

review articles A review article is an article that summarizes the current state of understanding on a topic within a certain discipline. A review article is generally considered a secondary source since it may analyze and discuss the method and conclusions ...

in the journal ''

Gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...

'', together with the editing of the gene-specific pages in Wikipedia. The Gene Wiki project in collaboration with the journal ''Gene'' was terminated in May 2022, ten years after the project's initiation. A report by the project's leaders summarizes the project's achievements.

Project goals and scope

Number of gene articles

The

human genome The human genome is a complete set of nucleic acid sequences for humans, encoded as the DNA within each of the 23 distinct chromosomes in the cell nucleus. A small DNA molecule is found within individual Mitochondrial DNA, mitochondria. These ar ...

contains an estimated 20,000–25,000

protein-coding genes The human genome is a complete set of nucleic acid sequences for humans, encoded as the DNA within each of the 23 distinct chromosomes in the cell nucleus. A small DNA molecule is found within individual mitochondria. These are usually treated s ...

. The goal of the Gene Wiki project is to create seed articles for every notable human gene, that is, every gene whose function has been assigned in the

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

scientific literature Scientific literature encompasses a vast body of academic papers that spans various disciplines within the natural and social sciences. It primarily consists of academic papers that present original empirical research and theoretical ...

. Approximately half of human genes have assigned function, therefore the total number of articles seeded by the Gene Wiki project would be expected to be in the range of 10,000–15,000. To date, approximately 11,000 articles have been created or augmented to include Gene Wiki project content.

Expansion

Once seed articles have been established, the hope and expectation is that these will be

annotated An annotation is extra information associated with a particular point in a document or other piece of information. It can be a note that includes a comment or explanation. Annotations are sometimes presented in the margin of book pages. For anno ...

and expanded by editors ranging in experience from the lay audience to students to professionals and academics.

Proteins encoded by genes

Only a small portion of the genome actually encodes

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

in the human genome. Understanding the function of a gene that codes for a protein generally requires understanding of the function of the corresponding protein. In addition to including basic information about the gene, the project therefore also includes information about the protein encoded by the gene. The function of other portions of the genome,

non-coding DNA Non-coding DNA (ncDNA) sequences are components of an organism's DNA that do not encode protein sequences. Some non-coding DNA is transcribed into functional non-coding RNA molecules (e.g. transfer RNA, microRNA, piRNA, ribosomal RNA, and reg ...

, also called "junk" DNA in the past because they had no apparent function, actually are thought to have regulatory functions.

Gene Wiki generated content

Stubs for the Gene Wiki project are created by a

bot Bot or BOT may refer to: Sciences Computing and technology * Chatbot, a computer program that converses in natural language * Internet bot, a software application that runs automated tasks (scripts) over the Internet **Spambot, an internet bot ...

and contain links to the following primary gene/protein databases: *

HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee The HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) is a committee of the Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) that sets the standards for human gene nomenclature. The HGNC approves a ''unique'' and ''meaningful'' name for every known human gene, based on a ...

– official gene name *

Entrez The Entrez () Global Query Cross-Database Search System is a federated search engine, or web portal that allows users to search many discrete health sciences databases at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) website. The NCB ...

– Gene database *

OMIM Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) is a continuously updated catalog of human genes and genetic disorders and traits, with a particular focus on the gene-phenotype relationship. , approximately 9,000 of the over 25,000 entries in OMIM ...

(Mendelian Inheritance in Man) – database that catalogues all the known diseases with a genetic component * Amigo –

Gene Ontology The Gene Ontology (GO) is a major bioinformatics initiative to unify the representation of gene and gene product attributes across all species. More specifically, the project aims to: 1) maintain and develop its controlled vocabulary of gene and ...

* HomoloGene – gene

homologs Homologous chromosomes or homologs are a set of one maternal and one paternal chromosome that pair up with each other inside a cell during meiosis. Homologs have the same genes in the same loci, where they provide points along each chromosome th ...

in other species * SymAtlasRNA –

gene expression Gene expression is the process (including its Regulation of gene expression, regulation) by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product that enables it to produce end products, proteins or non-coding RNA, ...

pattern in tissues *

Protein Data Bank The Protein Data Bank (PDB) is a database for the three-dimensional structural data of large biological molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids, which is overseen by the Worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB). This structural data is obtained a ...

– 3D

structure A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...

of protein encoded by the gene *

UniProt UniProt is a freely accessible database of protein sequence and functional information, many entries being derived from genome sequencing projects. It contains a large amount of information about the biological function of proteins derived fro ...

(universal protein resource) – a central repository of protein data

Response

report A report is a document or a statement that presents information in an organized format for a specific audience and purpose. Although summaries of reports may be delivered orally, complete reports are usually given in the form of written documen ...

found that between 2013 and 2017, the content which Gene Wiki contributed to Wikipedia got

crowdsourced Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digit ...

development over time.

References

External links

* * * * {{cite journal , title = Big data: Wikiomics , author = Mitch Waldrop , date = 3 September 2008 , journal = Nature , volume = 455 , issue = 7209 , pages =22–25 , doi = 10.1038/455022a , pmid = 18769412 , doi-access = free History of Wikipedia Wikis *