| GenBank | RefSeq |
|---|---|
| Not curated | Curated |
| Author submits | NCBI creates from existing data |
| Only author can revise | NCBI revises as new data emerge |
| Multiple records for same loci common | Single records for each molecule of major organisms |
| Records can contradict each other | |
| No limit to species included | Limited to model organisms |
| Data exchanged among INSDC members | Exclusive NCBI database |
| Akin to primary literature | Akin to review articles |
| Proteins identified and linked | Proteins and transcripts identified and linked |
| Access via NCBI Nucleotide databases | Access via Nucleotide & Protein databases |
From: Chapter 1, GenBank: The Nucleotide Sequence Database
NCBI Bookshelf. A service of the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.