WikiPathways

WikiPathways was established to facilitate the contribution and maintenance of pathway information by the biology community. WikiPathways is an open, collaborative platform dedicated to the curation of biological pathways. WikiPathways thus presents a new model for pathway databases that enhances and complements ongoing efforts, such as KEGG, Reactome and Pathway Commons. Building on the same MediaWiki software that powers Wikipedia, we added a custom graphical pathway editing tool and integrated databases covering major gene, protein, and small-molecule systems. The familiar web-based format of WikiPathways greatly reduces the barrier to participate in pathway curation. More importantly, the open, public approach of WikiPathways allows for broader participation by the entire community, ranging from students to senior experts in each field. This approach also shifts the bulk of peer review, editorial curation, and maintenance to the community.

WikiPathways之建立，旨在促进生物学界对通路信息的贡献与维护。该平台系一开放、协作性平台，专注于生物通路信息的整理。WikiPathways因此为通路数据库提供了一种新的模型，它不仅增强了，亦补充了诸如KEGG、Reactome与Pathway Commons等既有的努力。基于驱动Wikipedia的MediaWiki软件，我们增添了定制的图形化通路编辑工具，并集成了涵盖主要基因、蛋白质和低分子量系统的大型数据库。WikiPathways熟悉的基于网络的格式显著降低了参与通路整理的门槛。更重要的是，WikiPathways的开放、公共方法使得整个社区，从学生到各个领域的资深专家，都能够更广泛地参与其中。此方法亦将大量的同行评审、编辑整理和维护工作转移至社区。