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GO (Gene Ontology) - Synopsis

Search GO in the UMLS Metathesaurus
(requires a free UMLS license)

Web site:
http://www.geneontology.org/

Authority
The Gene Ontology (GO) project is produced by the GO Consortium.

Purpose
GO is a collaborative effort to address the need for consistent descriptions of gene products in different databases. The current ontologies of the GO project are molecular function, biological process, and cellular component.

Description
GO collaborators are developing three structured, controlled vocabularies (ontologies) that describe gene products in terms of their associated biological processes, cellular components and molecular functions in a species-independent manner. GO includes cross-links between the ontologies and the genes and gene products in the collaborating databases, and tools that facilitate the creation, maintainence and use of ontologies.

GO neither names genes or gene products, nor attempts to provide structured vocabularies beyond its three domains: molecular function, biological process and cellular component.

The Gene Ontology vocabularies and gene product annotations are available to all public and private sector users, with no licensing requirements.

Metathesaurus Scope
The Metathesaurus representation of GO includes only the three ontologies: molecular function, biological process and cellular component.

Audience
GO is intended for use by system developers who are addressing the need for consistent descriptions of gene products in different databases.

Update Frequency
GO is updated regularly throughout the year.

Metathesaurus Update Frequency
GO is updated annually in the Metathesaurus, as resources permit.

Sites Consulted

  1. Gene Ontology Consortium Wiki [Internet]. [place unknown]: The Gene Ontology Consortium; c1999. GO FAQ; [modified 2008 Sep 10; cited 2008 Sep 29]. Available from: http://wiki.geneontology.org/index.php/GO_FAQ