Wikipedia for Proteins

Genome Biology just published an interesting paper by a group of prominent protein chemists, plus Jimmy Wales, the creator of Wikipedia. In a nutshell, these folks have developed a new wiki-based protein annotation system, which seems like a wise way to approach the enormous problem of organizing information about these molecules. In an accompanying press release, they explain the work this way:

The source material for WikiProteins comes from a mixture of existing authoritative databases (such as the Unified Medical Language System, UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot, IntAct and GO), supplemented by concepts mined from scientific papers published in public literature databases. The automated data mining identifies ‘facts’ in these available resources, such as protein functions or protein-disease relationships. This process created over one million biomedical concept clouds – called ‘Knowlets’ – around each individual concept. The developers of the site now hope that many researchers will follow their call to annotate, via WikiProteins, the Knowlets for which they are leading experts. The method enables researchers to add data even from sources that are not openly available, such as from journals only accessible via publishers’ databases, immensely enhancing the potential for comprehensive coverage. Each page of text called up via the system is automatically indexed and concepts are connected to the WikiSpace, so that their definition comes up and the information can be edited directly from the page.

I wish they could have accomplished it without feeling the need to coin a new buzzword (Knowlets? Didn't they hang out with the Hobbits?), but hopefully the system will evolve into a useful tool as users edit it. If you're anxious to test drive it, there's a sample page up here.