Introduction
EDAM is a comprehensive ontology of well-established concepts in bioinformatics and computational biology. Developed in tight collaboration with ELIXIR France, it covers data types, data identifiers, data formats, operations, and topics. Each concept includes preferred terms, synonyms, and definitions, organised into a simple and intuitive hierarchy.
Key Features
- Structured vocabulary — standardised terms for data types, identifiers, formats, operations, and topics in bioinformatics
- Synonym support — maps alternative terms to preferred concepts, reducing ambiguity across tools and publications
- Hierarchical organisation — intuitive parent-child relationships make it easy to navigate from broad topics to specific concepts
- Interoperability enabler — widely adopted by bio.tools, Galaxy, and other ELIXIR services for consistent annotation
- Community-driven — maintained through open contributions with regular releases reflecting evolving bioinformatics practice
Getting Started
Browse the ontology and access documentation at edamontology.org. EDAM is available in OWL format for integration into tools, registries, and annotation pipelines.