His own interest in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy has generated a locus-specific database of DMD mutations and relationships, it receives 500 hits per month and the obvious usefulness of this and analogous resources was a recurring theme during the meeting. When locus-specific databases can distribute their information efficiently, or make it universally accessible to search engines, the issue of standardization is partly resolved. Central and locus databases can be linked for mutual long term support and security. Locus-specific mutation databases flourish. These and other locus-specific databases are driven by biological and medical interests, contain hundreds of mutations at their respective loci, are highly informative about some aspect of human population genetic variation, are curated and, up to now, have been maintained and operated in imaginative entrepreneurial fashion with minimal or no dedicated funding.
Curatorial function maintains quality.
It lists curated information from MedLine, journal reports, locus-specific databases, and personal communications. Mutations are classified in ten groups by type, one page per gene per mutation type. However, HGMD and other genomic databases may find it difficult to maintain the dense repertoire of descriptors and other information found in large locus-specific databases. Meantime, OMIM and HGMD function well as directories of locus-specific databases. Bioinformatics is a necessary resource in genomics.