August 1, 2009 (Vol. 29, No. 14)
Rating:
Strong Points: Different analytic tools
Weak Points: Instructions could be more thorough
Summary:
The Pathway Hunter Tool is a wonderful resource for people who delight in the complexity of metabolic pathways, as well as those who abhor it. (Allow me to explain.) This systems biology-based bioinformatics tool, developed at the University of Cologne in Germany, puts all of the metabolic pathways of a number of model organisms at one’s fingertips. (A virtual organism defined by specific enzymes can also be constructed.) One can generate a list of potential drug targets based on the production/consumption of metabolites and enzymes, find the shortest path between a substrate and product metabolite, and perform statistical analyses of the overall connectivity of metabolic pathways. These various options generate a large amount of data (for all of you complexity-lovers out there), yet the site also provides a link to a wonderful tool that organizes the data into eye-friendly flow charts. Anyone who has ever cursed the convolution of metabolism will truly enjoy the Pathway Hunter Tool data displayed in the yEd Graph Editor.
