National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), U.S. National Library of Medicine

As a national resource for molecular biology information, NCBI's mission is to develop new information technologies to aid in the understanding of fundamental molecular and genetic processes that control health and disease. More specifically, the NCBI has been charged with creating automated systems for storing and analyzing knowledge about molecular biology, biochemistry, and genetics; facilitating the use of such databases and software by the research and medical community; coordinating efforts to gather biotechnology information both nationally and internationally; and performing research into advanced methods of computer-based information processing for analyzing the structure and function of biologically important molecules.

To carry out its diverse responsibilities, NCBI:

• conducts research on fundamental biomedical problems at the molecular level using mathematical and computational methods
• maintains collaborations with several NIH institutes, academia, industry, and other governmental agencies
• fosters scientific communication by sponsoring meetings, workshops, and lecture series
• supports training on basic and applied research in computational biology for postdoctoral fellows through the NIH Intramural Research Program
• engages members of the international scientific community in informatics research and training through the Scientific Visitors Program
• develops, distributes, supports, and coordinates access to a variety of databases and software for the scientific and medical communities
• develops and promotes standards for databases, data deposition and exchange, and biological nomenclature