Content

HOMOPHILA is a searchable database of human disease genes, obtained from the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man database, that have significant homology at the protein level to genes contained in FlyBase, the current Drosophila sequence database. Of the 920 gene entries contained in OMIM, 708 (77%) had strong matches to sequences in the Drosophila database. There are in-site links to 'Known alleles', 'Disease categories' and 'Signaling pathway homologs', which display subsets of the data. There is also a page that displays the number of Drosophila sequences related to human disease genes as a function of the BLAST similarity e-value in a graphical format.

Navigation

Navigation through the site is easy. At the bottom of the homepage is a simple search engine using a keyword search with drag-down options. An example query is also provided, on the list of links running down the right-hand side of the main page.

Reporter's comments

Timeliness

According to the website the data are updated monthly.

Best feature

As a fan of simple search engines, I rate this one highly.

Worst feature

The search engine doesn't allow Boolean searches, so each gene or homolog has to be searched for individually

Table of links

The Human Disease to Drosophila Gene Database

Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man

FlyBase

Assumptions made about all sites unless otherwise specified:
The site is free, in English and no registration is required. It is relatively quick to download, can be navigated by an 'intermediate' user, and no problems with connection were found. The site does not stipulate that any particular browser be used and no special software/plug-ins are required to view the site. There are relatively few gratuitous images and each page has its own URL, allowing it to be bookmarked.