Development of a directory of genetic probes as a shared institutional resource.
This report describes design and implementation of a genetic probe directory database for use by researchers in a medical school. The purpose of the database is to allow researchers to exchange descriptive information concerning probes available in their laboratories in order to facilitate collaboration. The Genetic Probe Database Browser (GPDB) allows multi-field constraints and wildcard searchers of the database, e-mail upload and download of data, and provides simple database administrator tools. The GPDB is implemented in C under the UNIX operating system, and uses the 'Curses' character terminal package to provide access to users unable to use modern graphical user interfaces. Currently, 10 researchers have contributed approximately 250 genetic probes, and several research collaborations have been started because of this resources.