3. Elements of standardization

Without resolving the problem of the semantic heterogeneity of biological data (intrinsic to the field), a number of standards have been developed to help identify instances (i.e. to identify the presence of the same biological object) across databases and move towards consensual definitions of biological concepts. We begin by presenting these initiatives (§ 3.1 ). We then describe the access portals that have been developed, enabling unified access to data by providing solutions in which syntactic heterogeneity is addressed (§ ...