[Ontology-editors] What does the MF ontology represent?

[Jennifer Deegan (nee Clark)]

Hi,

 I don't mind the derogatory phrases that much. I just find often I am 
lacking background information. It's quite easy to get behind in a 
consortium meeting discussion if you're not steeped to the gills in it.
Now the group is so big it's not possible to ask for the background 
information without holding things up. For example, if I can't quite 
remember what 'occurent' means, then a whole discussion can be lost on 
me. I think if we could aim to explain terms like that as we go along 
then fewer good suggestions would get stone-walled.

Jen



Amelia Ireland wrote:
> Back in Gotham City on 16 Sep 2008, at 09:08, Chris Mungall wrote:
>
>> And can we just drop the "dirty function" thing? The term has been 
>> used once since St Croix in a clearly ironic context, it's not like 
>> there is a gang of ontologists trying to force this term down poor 
>> biologists throats.
>
> I can't remember if I was the evil mind responsible for the term in 
> the first place, but I apologize if I was. I've always used the phrase 
> as a joke, and would certainly not advocate its use in any formal 
> context. I have the misfortune of a dry sense of humour and a deadpan 
> manner, so things said ironically or as a joke are often 
> misinterpreted as being serious (especially since this is the opposite 
> of the way Americans act). Ah, the burdens of being British (or maybe 
> just of having a crap sense of humour...)! ;) ;)
>
> If, at some point in the future, this topic gets broached with the 
> consortium, perhaps we can use some nomenclature that is accurate 
> without sounding derogatory; maybe something like 'functional role'? I 
> do think much of the confusion surrounding the issue is due to 
> 'function' having a number of different possible meanings. If there 
> were some way of describing the different classes of term in the MF 
> ontology without using the word 'function', it would make explaining 
> things much easier. Well, possibly...
>
> A.
>
> -- 
> Amelia Ireland
> GO Editorial Office
> http://www.ebi.ac.uk || http://www.berkeleybop.org
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