Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Exploring Biological Information: Document And Discover Descriptions Of Life, Chao Cai

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

The human description and documentation of life has a long history as early as the ancient civilizations. For centuries, biological information, or information about life was preserved mostly as scientific article, illustrations, or permanent specimens. However, the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA in the 1950s, especially the launch of the Human Genome Project in the 1980s, significantly impacted the way we document information about life. This presentation will discuss the history and major formats of how biological information is documented and preserved, as well as tools to discover curated and archived biological information.