Data Curation

HUDSEN curation staff take incoming data from many sources, check and correct for errors, assess for consistency, and convert into a standard format which adds structure that allows subsequent data interrogation and exchange.

The information aspects we check and standardise for every HUDSEN entry (based on both the supplied information and extra information we source) are:

• The assayed Gene/Protein name/symbol. Human gene/protein name and symbol information is assigned according to the guidelines of the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee.
  
• The stage of each specimen (assigned as based on morphological criteria)
  
• Defining as completely as possible the probe/antibody (including full sequences where possible, from GenBank)
  
• Defining the experimental methods used
  
• Transferring the sites of expression as described by the data submitter to matching terms in the anatomy ontology
  
• Performing a spatial annotation onto a HUDSEN embryo model
  
• Checking that all references, links, submitter information etc is correct
  

During our spatial annotation procedure, we also comment on the clarity of the expression pattern seen in the image and the morphological match between the data embryo and the HUDSEN embryo template which houses the spatial annotation.