Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology on the Web

The items listed below are among the best current sources for the biological sciences on the Internet. More sources will be added over the months to come.

Citation Databases and Indexes
Electronic Books and Data Collections
Internet Sites
Electronic Journals

If you need assistance in finding information, please contact:
Heather Lewin
Subject Librarian for Biochemistry, Biophysics, & Molecular Biology
hslewin@iastate.edu
(515) 294-1004

Citation Databases and Indexes

Primary Chemistry Database

SciFinder Scholar provides access to some of the major chemistry databases provided by the Chemical Abstracts Service. These include the main Chemical Abstracts database (CAPlus) as well as CASREACTS (reaction information) and the Registry file (information identifying various chemical substances). The software to use this database must be downloaded from the CAS website and loaded on the user's computer.

Primary Biological Science Databases

Biosis Previews -- Biosis Previews combines Biological Abstracts and Biological Abstracts/RRM (Reviews, Reports, Meetings) into one unified database with monthly updates. It contains citations to journal articles, meetings and conference reports, patents, books and patents. Biosis Previews covers virtually every life science discipline: agriculture, biochemistry, biotechnology, botany, ecology, immunology, microbiology, neuroscience, pharmacology, public health, and toxicology.
Zoological Record contains citations to the worldwide literature on zoology, including systematic and taxonomic references. It indexes publications from journals, books, newsletters, and conference proceedings.).

Secondary Biological Science Databases

CAB Abstracts covers over 10,000 international research journals, as well as books, conference papers, theses, and technical reports on all aspects of agriculture. It is the electronic version of a number of printed indexes, including AgBiotech News and Information, Plant Genetic Resources Abstracts, Protozoological Abstracts, and others.
MEDLINE provides indexing to 3000 international research journals in the area of medicine and allied health sciences. It does not index books or conference proceedings. The paper version is generally called Index Medicus. It is the latest in a number of indexes of medical literature that began in the nineteenth century. Another version of the database is available directly from the National Library of Medicine. PubMed .

Other Databases with Relevant Material

Current Contents Connect indexes the most recent issues of the important journals in all academic disciplines. Generally new articles will be listed here before they appear in the major subject-specific databases such as Biological Abstracts.
Dissertations & Theses includes citations for dissertations produced in the United States and for some foreign universities. Dissertations are covered from 1860 to the present.
Ingenta Gateway provides access to the full-text of over 14,000,000 articles in 27,000 journals in all subject areas. Articles from journals not subscribed to by the ISU Library are available from this site.
NTIS (National Technical Information Service) is the general technical report database for the U.S. government. It includes research from a wide spectrum of technical areas, including including biochemistry, biotechnology, genetics, medicine, and related fields.
OAIster -- An index to Internet resources created at the University of Michigan, Digital Library Production Services. Provides access to a variety of journal articles, technical reports, theses, software programs, and other materials from a large variety of academic, society, publishers, and other sources in all subject areas. Not all materials are available as full-text.
PapersFirst provides access to individual papers presented at conferences worldwide. It covers conferences in all subject disciplines, including genetics, immunology, zoology, and related fields.
Proceedings (ISI) indexes conferences, symposia, and materials from the meetings of scientists and other scholars in all subject areas. The database covers meetings from 1991 to the present.
Web of Science covers journal articles in all subject areas. Database has standard indexing for over 7,000 journals but also indexes the references for all articles from those journals. The references can be separately searched to find articles that have cited the same publications. The citation indexed literature covers journal articles, books, conference proceedings, dissertations, technical reports, and other forms of literature. Journal articles from 1983 to the present are covered. (Cited materials can be much older.)

Electronic Books and Data Collections

BRENDA The Comprehensive Enzyme Information System -- This database has extensive information on enzymes including chemical information, physical data, links to structure databases, associated organisms, laboratory procedures, and other information.
ChemBank -- This is a collection of databases with information for over 900,000 organic compounds. The data includes identification information, structures, some physical properties, and other information.
ChemIDplus -- This is a database of over 350,000 chemicals that appear in various National Library of Medicine databases. Information is included on different synonyms, identification information, structures, some physical property data, toxicity, etc. There are also links to other NLM databases and to other information sources on the Internet.
CHEMnetBASE -- This is a collection of databases with information on chemical compounds. The entries include basic chemical names and formulas, identification information such as CAS Registry Numbers, physical properties of the substances, literature references, and other related information. The databases included are:
- Dictionary of Organic Compounds
- Dictionary of Natural Products
- Dictionary of Inorganic and Organometallic Compounds
- Dictionary of Drugs
- Dictionary of Commonly Cited Compounds
- Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
- Polymers: A Property Database
- Properties of Organic Compounds
CrossFire -- CrossFire provides access to the major chemistry databases provided by Beilstein Insitute: the Beilstein and Gmelin databases. Beilstein is the online version of the Beilstein Handbook of Organic Chemistry. It contains information on organic substances published in the chemical literature from 1771 to the present. Gmelin is the online version of the Gmelin Handbook of Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry. It contains information on inorganic and organometallic substances published in the literature from 1648 to 1994.
Encyclopedia of Life Sciences -- This is a basic encyclopedia of life science topics. It is focused more towards basic biological processes rather than information on different living species.
Entrez provides access to an integrated collection of information about gene sequences, nucleotide sequences, protein sequences, and other similar material. Each item has references to the biomedical literature from PubMed.
esp@cenet -- The European Patent Office's database of information from patents and patent applications from the European Patent Office, the World Intellectual Property Organization, Japan, and the United States. Entries usually include basic bibliographic information from the patent and an abstract. There is full-text information available for some recent patent applications and United States patents in image files.
Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) -- The HSDB contains information on hazardous chemical substances. In addition to information on the hazards associated with each chemical there is emergency treatment information, proper handling information, the use of the chemical, and other relevant data. Also included is a section of basic physical properties. All information is referenced.
Hypermedia Glossary of Genetic Terms -- This dictionary of genetic terms has short definitions. Entries include links to related terms in the collection.
Integrated Spectral Data Base System for Organic Compounds (SDBS) -- The SDBS is a collection of sprectral data for organic compounds. Types of spectra included EI mass, NMR (various types), FT-IR, laser-Raman, and ESR.
NIST Chemistry WebBook -- Collection of data on chemicals gathered by the National Institute of Science and Technology. The dataset is searchable by chemical names, formulas, CAS registry number, structures, and various physical properties of chemicals.
NMRShiftDB -- This is a database of NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectra, structures, and associated records for organic compounds. The information has been contributed by scientists at various research organizations around the world. The database is searchable by spectra information, structure, molecular weight, and keywords. It is capable of predicting spectra information for unknown substances based on their carbon content (other elements will be added later).
USPTO Web Patent Databases -- This is the official United States Patent and Trademark collection of patent information. The patents from 1976 to the present are available in a full-text, searchable file. The earlier patents are available as images of the original print. In addition to the patent database there is also a database of patent applications.

Internet Sites

Cell and Molecular Biology Online -- A collection of websites with information for cell and molecular biologists. Sections cover research, education, and career type of information.
Indiana University Molecular Structure Center -- This site has a variety of resources on molecular structures. This includes example diagrams of various types of organic compounds, amino acids, nucleotides, and similar types of materials. The site demonstrates items from a variety of different sources, using a number of different types of graphics software.
Links for Chemists -- This site is the chemistry section of the WWW Virtual Library. It has links to various chemistry resources and organizations.
The Medical Biochemistry Page -- Site provides a basic introduction to biochemical processes found in human physiology.
MERLOT: Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching -- MERLOT is a collection of contributed web resources in all subject areas designed for instructors and students in higher education. Items include lectures, simulations of software packages, data collections, sample animations, and other materials.
National Center for Biotechnology Information -- Site has links to a number of databases of genetic and protein sequence information. Related journal article citations from PubMed (a version of MEDLINE) accompany the sequence information.
Physiology & Biophysics (Biosciences) -- Part of the WWW Virtual Library, this is a collection of links to Internet sites with information on physiological and biophysical topics. Most of the sites are of noted institutions in these fields.
Sites for Molecular Biology -- A collection of links to software packages, electronic databases, electronic publications, and other information sources for molecular biologists and biochemists.

Electronic Journals

The Iowa State University Libraries subscribes to over 29,000 journals. These can be located by searching in the Library's catalog. Some of these journals are available in electronic form. Generally the catalog's record will have a link to the web page of journals that are available on the Internet. Another way to find the electronic journals that the library subscribes to is by going to the e-Journals & e-Books page on the Library's homepage. This list includes a summary of the issues that ISU faculty, staff and students have access to.

The following are some of the electronic journals that are of interest to biochemists, biophysicists, and molecular biologists whose subscription has been paid for by ISU Library.

Last date reviewed: 8/2/05

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Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology on the Web

Last date reviewed: 8/2/05