When scripts fail, check databases

January 19, 2008 — nsaunders

Note to self: how many biological databases provide their release notes as an RSS feed?

One of my database mining scripts failed today; on reading the SwissProt What’s New page, I discovered why:

Changes concerning keywords (KW line)
Modified keywords:
    * Phosphorylation -> Phosphoprotein

More notes:

  • Is keyword a good way to mine SwissProt records?
  • The MOD_RES line changed recently too; clearly these changes can happen anytime, anywhere in a record
  • SwissProt PTMs also have AC and ID; to be incorporated in all records eventually?
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