A “new alphabet” for life sciences

Launch of the first standard graphical notation for biology

Scientists representing over 30 institutions around the globe – among them Falk Schreiber, coordinator of the bioinformatics programme at the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) in Gatersleben, Germany – have released a new set of standards for graphically representing biological information – the biology equivalent of the circuit diagram in electronics. This visual language should make it easier to exchange complex information, so that models are accurate, efficient and readily understandable. The new standard, called the Systems Biology Graphical Notation (SBGN), was published 7^th August in Nature Biotechnology.

Researchers use standardised visual languages to communicate complex information in a way that it is unambiguous and easy to understand. Such standard graphical representations are common to many scientific fields, for example the circuit diagrams in electronics. But biology still lacks a standardised notation that describes all biological interactions, pathways and networks, even though the discipline is dominated by graphical information.

The SBGN project was launched in 2005 as a united effort to specifically develop a new graphical standard for molecular and systems biology applications. The team comprises biochemists, modellers and computer scientists who have developed the SBGN in collaboration with the user community.

Previous graphical notation in biology has tended to be ambiguous, used in different ways by different researchers and only suited to specific needs, for example to represent metabolic networks or signalling pathways. Even past efforts to create a more rigid notation failed to become accepted as a standard by the community. The researchers believe that the SBGN should be more successful because it represents a more concerted effort to establish a standard by engaging users.

To ensure that this new visual language does not become too vast and complicated, the researchers decided to define three separate types of diagram that complement each other, which describe molecular process, relationships between entities and links among biochemical activities.

About the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research

The Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) in Gatersleben, Germany is a publically funded, non-university research centre and member of the Leibniz Association – that represents 86 research centres in Germany. The IPK Gatersleben is an internationally leading plant research centres that deals with issues of modern biology, mainly by studying cultivated plant species. Pioneering research to uncover fundamental principles of plant performance and the development of enabling technologies are considered to be of paramount importance in understanding the genetic architecture and the evolution of crop plants at the organismic, the chromosomal and the DNA level. Knowledge-based strategies are developed to facilitate the targeted utilisation of biological diversity for the sustainable production of food, feed and renewable resources. IPK employs about 500 researchers and technical staff from 26 nations. More details can be found on the website of IPK at www.ipk-gatersleben.de.