ago in order to summarize this data consistently across different databases by using a common set of defined vocabulary terms. They also encode relationships between terms. The Gene Ontology Project is a major bioinformatics initiative with the aim of standardizing the representation of gene and gene product attributes across species and databases. The project also provides gene product annotation data from GO consortium members. FlyBase was one of the three founding members of the Gene Ontology Consortium. GO annotation comprises at least three components: a GO term that describes molecular function, biological role, or subcellular location; an "evidence code" that describes the type of analysis used to support the GO term; and an attribution to a specific reference. GO annotation is useful for both small-scale and large-scale analyses. It can provide a first indication of the nature of a gene product and, in conjunction with evidence codes, point directly to papers with pertinent experimental data. The current priorities for annotation are: homologs of human disease genes, genes that are highly conserved across species, genes involved in biochemical/signaling pathways, and topical genes shown to be of significant interest in recent publications. FlyBase has been contributing GO annotations to the project since it started in August 2006. GO annotations appear on the Gene Report page in FlyBase. GO data are searchable in FlyBase using both TermLink and QueryBuilder. The GO is dynamic and can change on a daily basis, for example the addition of new terms. To keep up, FlyBase loads a new version of the GO every one or two releases of FlyBase. The GO annotation set is submitted to the GOC at the same time as a new version of FlyBase is released. See also List of Drosophila databases Model Organism Databases WormBase Xenbase Notes and references External links Official Site Cell biology Drosophila melanogaster Insect developmental biology Model organism databases