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Introduction

Who are we?

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) was created by an act of Congress in 1988.   The NCBI and it's work is to be housed in the National Library of Medicine.
The Omnibus law - birth of the NCBI  
NCBI logo
NCBI resources & discipline nodes

The stated mission:

1.  design, develop, implement and manage automated systems for the collection, storage, retrieval, analysis and dissemination of knowledge concerning human molecular biology, biochemistry, and genetics;

2.  perform research into advanced methods of computer-based information processing capable of representing and analyzing the vast number of biologically important molecules and compounds;

3.  enable persons engaged in biotechnology and medical care to use systems developed under paragraph 1 and methods described in paragraph 2; and

4.  coordinate, as much as practicable, efforts to gather biotechnology information on an international basis.

 

As biological molecule types are universal across the terran biome, we have designed our systems to include more than just "human" data. This aims to support research for a much greater impact on human health as well as a wider impact on all living systems on earth.

Over the years, databases and related tools have developed around these domains:

  • clinical  (green)
  • genomic  (yellow)
  • biological sequence (blue)
  • and others (such as biochemical and pathogen surveillance)

All the data, as possible, has links to relevant literature resources (primarily PubMed, but also PubMed Central or PMC & the NCBI Bookshelf or Books).


What do we do?

As Subject Matter Experts with direct contact with the user community,
we were hired to do a lot.

What NCBI Teaching Faculty Do    NCBI Education Icon


Why are we here?

Our role ranges from Customer Support to Workforce Development
The spectrum of NCBI Customer training/educational needs

How have we done?


An example of our impact...
Two years of the NCBI Virtual Workshops & Codeathon Program

Last Reviewed: July 10, 2024