May 15, 2016 (Vol. 36, No. 10)
URL:
http://epifactors.autosome.ru
Rating:
Strong Points: Nice homepage layout, good organization
Weak Points: Slight delays for loading page content
Summary:
Gene expression is a complicated business, in no small part due to the contributions of various epigenetic modifications to histones and chromatin structure. A catalogue of the proteins (and the corresponding genes) involved in those epigenetic processes—so-called “epigenetic factors”—can be found on the EpiFactors Database, an online resource described in a 2015 research publication. The nicely designed homepage lets site visitors directly access a number of entries directly by clicking on their names in the illustration. For the remainder of the content, visitors can navigate to the pages for genes, complexes, histones and protamines, and expression. As the site warns, there can be a slight delay while the entire table of information for a given page loads; however, the delay takes only a few seconds. The current database includes 815 genes and 69 protein complexes, so there is plenty of content to explore.
