Computational Biology Resources Lack Persistence and Usability

Abstract

Innovation in computational biology research is predicated on the availability of published methods and computational resources. These resources facilitate the generation of new hypotheses and observations both on the part of the creators and the scientists who use them. These methods and resources include Web servers, databases, and software, both complex and simple, that implement a specific procedure or algorithm. Usually, a resource is maintained by the laboratory in which it was initially developed. We would assert that there is a growing level of frustration among scientists who attempt to use many of these resources and find that they no longer exist or are not properly maintained.