CIF dictionary structure
This applet can parse CIF
Unfortunately being an applet it doesn't retain state and may not be able to access your filesystem. Sun offers a way of making this applet a fully functioning application on your desktop with Java Web Start. Try launching it:
Under Linux you may have to tell your browser to associate the extension .jnlp (Java Network Launch Protocol - an XML document) with
the javaws client executable found - for example - in the JDK or JRE distribution on your machine
viz:
/usr/local/java/jdk1.5.0_02/bin/javaws.
Info on CIF dictionaries
- CIF dictionaries have an implicit tree structure, if fact two, one via the
parent_idvalues and one via the_category.attribute_id"dot" notation. It it not evident what this means. - Obviously the python/jython tree structure is more structured that the CIF dictionary that was used. It's not evident if this is the "correct" tree structure envisaged by the dictionary author(s). This parent/child structure has to be translated into an object/instance - method/attribute structure of a computing environment. There is not much guidance.
Centre contributes to the second most important scientific discovery of 2009!
Centre contributes to the second most important scientific discovery of 2009
From the original Time article by EBEN HARRELL
The Top 10 of Everything for 2009
2. The Human Epigenome, Decoded
The decoding of the human genome nearly a decade ago fueled expectations that an understanding of all human hereditary influences was within sight. But the connections between genes and, say, disease turned out to be far more complicated than imagined. What has since emerged is a new frontier in the study of genetic signaling known as epigenetics, which holds that the behavior of genes can be modified by environmental influences and that those changes can be passed down through generations. So people who smoke cigarettes in their youth, for example, sustain certain epigenetic changes, which may then increase the risk that their children's children will reach puberty early. In October, a team led by Joseph Ecker at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif., studied human skin and stem cells to produce the first detailed map of the human epigenome. By comparing this with the epigenomes of diseased cells, scientists will be able to work out how glitches in the epigenome may lead to cancers and other diseases. The study, which was published in the journal Nature, is a giant leap in geneticists' quest to better understand the strange witches' brew of nature and nurture that makes us who we are.
Nature Paper
Breaking News!
October 2009: After working on the Arabidopsis methylome Ryan Lister, Julian Tonti-Filippini and Harvey Millar have co-authored a Nature Paper about the the human methylome!Read More...
An overview for the general reader can be found at the Economist