As part of Nature’s general feature on the challenges of dealing with Big Data in modern scientific research there was an article published covering Biocuration and its associated challenges. Coming in part from the various Biocurator and International Biocurator meetings originally started from a grant awarded to Sue Rhee and Simon Twigger, this paper outlines the current challenges in the field and steps that must be taken if we are to continue to stay afloat in the rising tide of data.

Big data: The future of biocuration

Nature. 2008 Sep 4;455(7209):47-50

Howe D, Costanzo M, Fey P, Gojobori T, Hannick L, Hide W, Hill DP, Kania R, Schaeffer M, St Pierre S, Twigger S, White O, Yon Rhee S.

The exponential growth in the amount of biological data means that revolutionary measures are needed for data management, analysis and accessibility. Online databases have become important avenues for publishing biological data. Biocuration, the activity of organizing, representing and making biological information accessible to both humans and computers, has become an essential part of biological discovery and biomedical research. But curation increasingly lags behind data generation in funding, development and recognition.

[Read the complete full text at Nature]