Ontologies for molecular biology and bioinformatics

Abstract

About five years ago, ontology was almost unknown in bioinformatics, even more so in molecular biology. Nowadays, many bioinformatics articles mention it in connection with text mining, data integration or as a metaphysical cure for problems in standardisation of nomenclature and other applications. This article attempts to give an account of what concept ontologies in the domain of biology and bioinformatics are; what they are not; how they can be constructed; how they can be used; and some fallacies and pitfalls creators and users should be aware of.