FactBio Announces Improvements to the Kusp Data Curation Platform

CAMBRIDGE, UNITED KINGDOM - Nov 1, 2016 - FactBio, has launched Kusp 1.1, an update to its data curation platform which sees a number of new key features added.

The new features include a resource mapping module, improved search and annotation algorithms, an improved interface, and faster uploading of data. In addition, the range of ontology classes in Kusp has now been expanded to over 200,000.

The Kusp Resource Mapping module allows users to map reference entities, such as those in ontologies and biological databases, to other reference entities, enabling users to better integrate and interpret their data. Companies and organisations may use different or internal descriptions to describe their own data and by using the Kusp Resource Mapping module, they can connect and align all of their internal data with public data. Kusp now has over 300,000 resource and ontology mappings.

Alongside this, Kusp 1.1 benefits from optimised search and annotation algorithms, which will significantly improve users ability to search and interpret their data. In addition, the ontology classes have now been expanded to include more plant ontologies and bioassay data.

The user interface has also been improved, and users can now personalise their experience. This includes allowing users to specify which ontologies and databases they see when they search and annotate, an improved history function, which allows users to see their last five BioBuckets searched, and a feature which shows file upload progress.

Dr James Malone, CEO of FactBio said: “Kusp 1.1 has a number of significant improvements at the request of our users. Through our customer research, we identified a need for the ability to do ontology mapping, which will allow our users to better integrate their own internal annotations with external standardised ontologies. Through this, and a number of other additions, Kusp is now even better placed to support its users, and improve data standards globally.”