Rating: Excellent
Strong Points: Well organized, several different tools to use for searching through genes
Weak Points: None
Though small, Drosophila melanogaster has proven itself to be a titan in genetics research over the last century, from its early days as a model for Thomas Hunt Morgan to its current ubiquity in scientific research. FlyBase collects the enormous amount of genetic information available about Drosophila into one website. Users can search for particular genes of interest or enter BLAST sequences. Each gene page contains a wealth of information, including known functions of the gene and its associated protein, known involved pathways, and transcript expression data. In addition to searching for genes, users can also browse through images of Drosophila anatomy organized by organ system, or search through RNA-seq data. FlyBase is an essential website for researchers using Drosophila and contains an enormous amount of information in a user-friendly format.
