I know a certain IMAGE clone is in the NCBI database, but its sequence doesn appear in the IMAGE database. Why?
Any information we have that comes from NCBI is gathered through a nightly process that we have built to collect data from their databases. It is achieved by parsing all the records in the EST, Primate (PRI), Rodent (ROD), Vertebrate (VRT) and Synthetic (SYN – for ORF clones) sections of Genbank and looking for those that relate to our clones. It goes without saying that the English language does not lend well to a predictable set of rules and therefore we must make certain assumptions in order to parse, store and then deliver data to you. If a submitter isn’t aware of the assumptions we must make in order to parse the record then it won’t get into our database. We have available a document for submitters that can serve as a guildline for them. It is of course impossible for us to get all data collected on IMAGE clones under the current format of Genbank records, but we do manage to get a very high percentage because our format requirements are generally adhered to by the mass volume s
