In this new application, the investigators propose to develop computer software to enable researchers in genome laboratories to track the progress of laboratory samples as they are manipulated in one or more protocols, often in a series of connected protocols, and to help make decisions about how to proceed based on the status of the samples in the protocols. These problems are general to many organizations that must handle large amounts of data and materials, and the investigators build on a developing area of computer science concerned with such workflow management. This application proposes to develop a workflow management system for the laboratory activities of genome researchers, activities such as sample tracking during STS- content mapping and genomic DNA sequencing. A goal is to make the management system flexible and general enough so that it can be exported and used in different laboratories with different research protocols, or different versions of similar protocols, and with a variety of database systems. The proposal first identifies the requirements that must be met by a laboratory workflow management system for genome research.
The Specific Aims are to 1) enhance a workflow model (called a workflow meta-model in this configuration) that has been in use at the Whitehead Genome Center (CGR), such that the model incorporates new enhancements that have been identified and uses recent advances in computer science research; 2) build the software to allow the workflow management system to be used; and 3) make the software generalized so that it can be used with a variety of database systems, including SYBASE and ACeDB. The investigators plan to make their software system readily available and to reach out to genome laboratories, in addition to the CGR, at early stages of the development of this system in efforts to disseminate it and to learn from the users how to improve it.
| Blake, J A; Eppig, J T; Richardson, J E et al. (2001) The Mouse Genome Database (MGD): integration nexus for the laboratory mouse. Nucleic Acids Res 29:91-4 |
