Life sciences identifiers

As stated on the OMG (Object Management) website (http //www.omg. org/), a lack of data standards results in data conversions, loss of information, lack of interoperability, etc. Current standards du jour are XML (Extensible Markup Language) [17], LSID (Life Sciences Identifiers), and now the RDF (Resource Description Framework) from the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), which is extensible though hard to implement. Substantial work on OO (Object Oriented) modeling of life science data types takes place at the OMG s LSR (Life Sciences Research) group—this is discussed below. 

As for organisms, our class 10, Linnaeus had this sorted out in the 18th century with his Systema Naturae. With some modifications (these days you and I are H. sapiens rather than H. diurnus—II. nocturnus was the orangutan ), his binomial system has survived to the present day, and of course is eminently well suited to being mined out with a simple regular-expression-based system. The options for (slightly) more machine-readable identifiers are the NCBI Taxonomy and the Life Science Identifier (LSID) project (see the LSID resolver at http //lsid.tdwg.org/). 

The Interoperable Informatics Infrastructure Consortium (I3C) has sponsored the definition of a specification for an identifier that can be used to reference and locate biological objects. The Life Sciences Identifiers Definition10 defines the syntax of a stable identifier and a mechanism to locate an authoritative server and resolve the identifier to a biological object. There are a number of reference implementations of this specification, and it has generated some interest in the bioinformatics community. It has yet to achieve widespread adoption but deserves a look if a research system requires the ability to specify stable identifiers for biological objects. 

The I3C has specificied a Uniform Resource Name syntax and semantics for a life-sciences identifier. Submissions of proposed implementations of these technologies were also made to the Life Sciences Research Domain Task Force at the OMG. More information on the I3C specification can be found at http //www.i3c.org/wgr/ta/resources/lsid/docs/index.asp. 

Provides information for the life science and chemical industries, including an enterprise framework for identifying successful new products. 

The pharmaceutical manufacturer is obliged by the regulations to ensure suppliers are suitable to conduct a project. The Supplier Audit is a means to identify the strength of the supplier s Quality Management System and level of experience in the Life Sciences sector. 

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