BioRS™ Integration and Retrieval System

The BioRS™ Integration and Retrieval System allows multiple public, commercial and proprietary databases to be combined and integrated into a unified environment. Flat-file and relational databases (including Oracle® and MySQL™) with diverse formats are easily integrated using Web or command-line interfaces and standardized data formats based on Extensible Markup Language (XML).

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Retrieve data conveniently

The BioRS Integration and Retrieval System quickly and efficiently retrieves biological data from public and proprietary databases. Researchers can easily search multiple, diverse databases simultaneously with a single query. The following are just a few examples:

  • Show protein information from UniProt together with information from EMBL
  • Select genes from BioRS query results and retrieve similar sequences from your proprietary database
  • Find all human kinases with transmembrane domains which are associated with liver cancer
  • Retrieve specific bacterial genes for antibiotic resistance and export them to plan cloning experiments
  • Download a list of all plant storage proteins for input into pattern searches to find protease cleavage sites

Connect data, connect teams

Scientists can locate related information from multiple sources using extensive cross-linking between databases and combined reports. A convenient database search environment is provided for diverse users — whether occasional user, every-day user or expert. Convenient tools are available for viewing and exporting retrieved information, and additional tools can be integrated as necessary.

Share data securely

The BioRS system ensures security within a distributed environment and allows safe data sharing among members of a large group in multiple locations. Because the BioRS system does not require Internet access, maximal confidentiality is ensured. Resource and user management is available using convenient Web and command-line interfaces. Individual users and user groups can be assigned privileges for controlling access to sensitive information.

The BioRS system as an information backbone

The BioRS system can be run as a stand-alone data integration and retrieval system or, alternatively, can be used as an information backbone supporting other software, such as the Pedant-Pro and BioXM systems. The screenshot below shows the BioRS system running as middleware for the BioXM Knowledge Management Environment.

BioRS running within the BioXM Knowledge Management Environment

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Notable projects

The German National Genome Research Network (NGFN2) has successfully used the BioRS system as the data integration tool for their bioinformatics data integration project.

Reference

The BioRS™ Integration and Retrieval System: An open system for distributed data integration.
Kaps A, Dyshlevoi K, Heumann K, Jost R, Kontodinas I, Wolff M and Hani J
The BioRS™ Integration and Retrieval System: An open system for distributed data integration.
Journal of Integrative Bioinformatics (JIB) 3(2):44 (2006) Abstract