Life Sciences search engine: NextBio

Image from NextBio content: http://www.nextbio.com/b/corp/content.nb

According to its FAQ page, NextBio

makes massive amounts of disparate biological, clinical and chemical data from public and proprietary sources searchable, regardless of data type and origin, and empowers scientists to quickly understand their own experimental results within the context of other research.

NextBio provides an open access platform for biology research with excellent search and organizational features. A smart search box displays the most likely terms as you type (see below), identified by categories, such as tissue, gene, disease, etc.

Results are displayed by summary allowing the researcher to refine through drill-down options in various categories. Results include raw data and literature from various public resources and any contributed data from individual scientists. A fabulous demo of basic features is available from the creators so I will not explain the entire process here.

NextBio offers free registration that turns on organizational features. Once registered, you can bookmark, organize, and make notes on your search results. In addition, you can upload your own data for comparison if you permit that data to be accessed. If you want to keep your data private, a fee is assessed. A number of large research institution, both private and educational, are using NextBio for project coordination and collaboration.