Abstract
The first protein database was founded in 1965, followed by the establishment of nucleic acid databases from 1971. Presently there are six major sequence databases, located in Japan, USA and the FRG-three for protein data and three for nucleic acid data. International cooperation between the protein databases and between the nucleic acid databases have greatly facilitated compilation and dissemination of data. Coordination between these protein and nucleic acid databases have progressed with the support of the CODATA Task Group and the International Advisory Board for Nucleic Acid Databases. In the protein field, several additional database activities are initiated to contribute to protein engineering and structure-activity relationships.
