Re: Advancing translational research with the Semantic Web

samwald@gmx.at wrote:
>> How would you say e.g. "protein a is expressed in tissue b, according to 
>> source c"?
> 
> through something like
> 
> <protein_a_expression_process> <has_participant> <protein_a> .
> <protein_a_expression_process> <located_in> <tissue_b> .
> <protein_a_expression_process> <described_by> <source_c> .

The "protein expression process" class that needs to be introduced here 
does seem a bit like bending over backwards (I know in other cases such as 
protein-protein interactions it fits better); also you need to introduce an 
additional predicate, "has_participant". This would certainly work, however 
from my point of view the best solution is the solution that uses the 
fewest custom concepts, because the more concepts you introduce, the 
smaller the chance that someone else will express (or expect to be able to 
express) the same information in the same way (or in a way that can be 
mapped easily), and in consequence data integration is more difficult!

Received on Thursday, 17 May 2007 17:15:44 UTC