DISCUSSION
Disease researchers require access to a wide variety of data and software tools. T1DBase is an attempt at such an integration, designed with the needs of scientists working on T1D in mind. Providing a comprehensive set of resources in one place accelerates research by reducing the time scientists have to spend searching the web. The integration of data and tools on T1DBase naturally leads the scientist from initial findings to related information.
T1DBase has been designed to be expanded easily; we expect to add more datasets and tools as the project proceeds. An important near-term goal is to add information on protein–protein interactions observed in islets and beta cells, as this is a major area of T1D research. The datasets are reasonably independent of each other and can be curated and managed separately.
While T1DBase is focused squarely on a single disease, the conceptual design should be applicable for many other diseases. We believe that our software is readily adapted for new systems, and welcome the opportunity to work with other disease communities interested in making this happen.