SAN DIEGO – Researchers on Tuesday launched an effort to create a library of human genetics using the online encyclopedia Wikipedia in hopes it could spur widespread discussion about thousands of individual genes.
Authors of the “gene wiki” say they have already created 7,500 Wikipedia entries on different genes and editing another 650 existing entries.
The group outlined its lofty aims in a paper published on the Public Library of Science's online journal, PLoS Biology. The eight authors are from the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation in San Diego, San Diego State University and Washington University in St. Louis.
“With the entire community's input, we envision this gene wiki evolving into a collection of collaboratively created, continually updated, community-reviewed review articles for every gene in the human genome,” the authors wrote.
One author, Andrew Su, said other online tools about genetics prevent readers from correcting what they consider to be erroneous or misleading information.
Virtually anyone can edit an entry on Wikipedia, the mammoth Internet encyclopedia that was founded in 2001 and built by volunteer contributors and editors.
The “gene wiki” also aims to be more reader-friendly than other sites, offering more text and diagrams instead of just raw data, said Su, a senior research investigator at the Novartis foundation, which is funded by the Swiss pharmaceutical company that bears the same name.
The authors acknowledge that the “completely open and anonymous nature of Wikipedia” creates the potential for unidentified contributors to insert errors.
They considered an alternative, Citizendium, whose volunteer contributors are expected to provide their real names. Citizendium asks experts in given fields to check articles for accuracy.
The authors said they chose Wikipedia because it is highly popular and the site's volunteer editors quickly correct inaccuracies.
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