An approach for building an integrated environment for molecular biology databases

Abstract

The requirements of a traditional integration of databases include hiding the heterogeneity among its member databases, preserving their autonomy, supporting controlled data sharing, and providing a user-friendly interface, with a performance comparable to that of a homogeneous distributed database system. In this paper, we describe a variation of the loosely coupled federated database approach that satisfies these requirements and is specifically oriented toward the special characteristics and needs of molecular biology databases. The approach differs from the traditional federated database approach in that it also integrates software tools together with the databases. In addition, the system gives the graphical user interface a more central role in the integration. Thus, the system has all the advantages provided by a visual user environment and is thus more user-friendly than traditional linguistic approaches. The paper also includes a description of XBio, a system which constructs such an integration. The design of XBio ensures robustness and can be customized to the needs of different classes of users.