A key component of an effective high throughput screening laboratory environment is a robust data management/structure tracking scheme capable of keeping pace with high volume analysis. We have designed a simple PC-based database to routinely maintain chemical and biological information. We use Microsoft Access for text information and ChemFinder for chemical structural information, and the two programs work together seamlessly. Raw data from primary screening are analyzed with Microsoft Excel and then imported to the ChemFinder/Access database, using visual basic scripts to automate the data transfer process. The ChemFinder/Access chemical and biological information database has the capability of searching compounds by substructures or similarity, facilitating data analysis and information retrieval, and we can easily correlate the chemical structures with biological activities.
We are currently developing a more comprehensive scheme for information gathering and analysis. It represents a strategic network of software programs integrated within a dedicated multi-processor Oracle 9i server environment. Given that Oracle environments readily facilitate construction of large scale, heterogeneous data objects and the fact that the Oracle Developer Suite permits facile integration of existing software resources, seamless connectivity will be readily achieved between a collection of data management software and an array of data acquisition/analysis codes, thereby providing an efficient scheme for cradle-to-grave information tracking and allowing convenient web-based access to all relevant data structures.
