Service-Oriented Laboratory Information Management System for Life Sciences Research

Data and process management are among the biggest problems that the life sciences face today, particularly in the areas of genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. This paper provides a design and implementation of a flexible, expandable and easy to use service oriented laboratory information management system (LIMS). A prerequisite to systems biology is the integration of heterogeneous raw and derived experimental data sets, which are stored in numerous life-science databases. However, a wide range of obstacles that relate to access, handling and integration impede the efficient exchange and use of the contents of these databases. The exponential growth of experimental data owing to advances and high- and ultra high-throughput technologies demand more sophisticated data and process management solutions. This service oriented data management tool enables researchers to have straightforward access to the data, and exchange information with other scientists in order to effectively answer today´s complex research questions.