Open AccessMapping the Gene Ontology into the Unified Medical Language System
Author(s) -
Lomax Jane,
McCray Alexa T.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
comparative and functional genomics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1532-6268
pISSN - 1531-6912
DOI - 10.1002/cfg.407
Subject(s) - unified medical language system , ontology , computer science , controlled vocabulary , vocabulary , terminology , gene ontology , information retrieval , open biomedical ontologies , thesaurus , natural language processing , artificial intelligence , world wide web , semantic web , linguistics , upper ontology , gene , suggested upper merged ontology , biology , philosophy , gene expression , biochemistry , epistemology
We have recently mapped the Gene Ontology (GO), developed by the Gene Ontology Consortium, into the National Library of Medicine's Unified Medical Language System (UMLS). GO has been developed for the purpose of annotating gene products in genome databases, and the UMLS has been developed as a framework for integrating large numbers of disparate terminologies, primarily for the purpose of providing better access to biomedical information sources. The mapping of GO to UMLS highlighted issues in both terminology systems. After some initial explorations and discussions between the UMLS and GO teams, the GO was integrated with the UMLS. Overall, a total of 23% of the GO terms either matched directly (3%) or linked (20%) to existing UMLS concepts. All GO terms now have a corresponding, official UMLS concept, and the entire vocabulary is available through the web‐based UMLS Knowledge Source Server. The mapping of the Gene Ontology, with its focus on structures, processes and functions at the molecular level, to the existing broad coverage UMLS should contribute to linking the language and practices of clinical medicine to the language and practices of genomics. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.