The Mouse Genome Database (MGD): facilitating mouse as a model for human biology and disease

TLDR

The Mouse Genome Database (MGD) is the central, authoritative resource for integrated genomic, genetic, and biological data on the laboratory mouse, providing standardized nomenclature for genes, alleles, and strains. MGD aims to support translational research by curating high‑quality data and integrating experimental and computational datasets to facilitate mouse model use. MGD maintains a unified catalog of genes and genome features, curates functional and phenotype annotations via Gene Ontology and Mammalian Phenotype Ontology, links mouse genotypes to human diseases, offers the Human‑Mouse Disease Connection, and provides updated search tools and a JBrowse genome browser. All MGD resources are freely available to the scientific community.

Abstract

The Mouse Genome Database (MGD, http://www.informatics.jax.org) serves the international biomedical research community as the central resource for integrated genomic, genetic and biological data on the laboratory mouse. To facilitate use of mouse as a model in translational studies, MGD maintains a core of high-quality curated data and integrates experimentally and computationally generated data sets. MGD maintains a unified catalog of genes and genome features, including functional RNAs, QTL and phenotypic loci. MGD curates and provides functional and phenotype annotations for mouse genes using the Gene Ontology and Mammalian Phenotype Ontology. MGD integrates phenotype data and associates mouse genotypes to human diseases, providing critical mouse–human relationships and access to repositories holding mouse models. MGD is the authoritative source of nomenclature for genes, genome features, alleles and strains following guidelines of the International Committee on Standardized Genetic Nomenclature for Mice. A new addition to MGD, the Human–Mouse: Disease Connection, allows users to explore gene–phenotype–disease relationships between human and mouse. MGD has also updated search paradigms for phenotypic allele attributes, incorporated incidental mutation data, added a module for display and exploration of genes and microRNA interactions and adopted the JBrowse genome browser. MGD resources are freely available to the scientific community.