Akaza Research Presents SBML-Compliant Metadata Schema for STKE Connections Map

November 5, 2003 - for immediate release

(St. Louis, MO) – Akaza Research will present an SBML-compliant metadata schema at the Fourth International Conference on Systems Biology (ICSB 2003) on Monday, November 10, 2003. The metadata schema will be used by the Connections Map, an online repository of signal transduction pathways hosted by Science's Signal Transduction Knowledge Environment (STKE).

Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) is a format for expressing information about biochemical pathways. Due to the wide acceptance of SBML in expressing biochemical pathways in software as well as in online repositories, Akaza Research believes the metadata schema will facilitate widespread distribution of Connections Map data.

The project reflects an important component of the company's mission. "Akaza is dedicated to the open exchange of information and ideas in the life sciences," said President Benjamin Baumann, "The deployment of this metadata schema will allow researchers to access and manipulate Connections Map data in novel ways, and may help them make novel discoveries in systems biology."

The presentation on Monday will focus on the degree to which SBML facilitates expression of the Connections Map data, and discusses how new features in the next Level of SBML will make expression of the Connections Map data still more natural.

"SBML is a powerful language which facilitates expression of some of the most important concepts in the Connections Map,” said Associate Research Developer Shai Sachs. “But other Connections Map concepts require further improvements on SBML in Level 3. We hope to contribute to Level 3 using the insights gained from this project.”

Akaza welcomes the opportunity to share its findings in collaborative environments like ICSB 2003, and enthusiastically supports open-source development efforts. "SBML is an open-source project whose efforts hold significant potential for systems biology research," said Chief Technology Officer Cal Collins. "As a company dedicated to supporting open-source efforts, we are proud to help make SBML a more robust and more widely-accepted standard."

For more information about Science’s Signal Transduction Knowledge Environment, visit stke.sciencemag.org.

For more information on Systems Biology Markup Language, visit www.sbml.org.

For more information about the Fourth International Conference on Systems Biology, visit icsb2003.molecool.wustl.edu.

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