Towards the integration of bioinformatics data and services using SOA and mashups

Worldwide biological research activities are generating publicly available biological data at a phenomenal pace. Data is usually stored in different formats (fasta, genbank, embl, xml, etc.). Therefore, retrieving, analyzing, parsing, and integrating these heterogeneous data require substantial programming expertise and effort that scientists do not have overall. Bioinformaticians have often considered several approaches to integrate heterogeneous data and software applications. Most of these integration approaches require significant computer skills. Recently, a new technology, called mashups, has emerged to simplify this integration. In this paper, we discuss widely used approaches for integrating data and applications in bioinformatics and our ongoing effort to use mashups in conjunction with Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) for integrating data and applications in Life Sciences.