WikiProject Molecular and Cellular Biology is a
WikiProject that is dedicated to improving Wikipedia's coverage of topics and articles related to
cellular and
molecular biology, with its primary goal being "to collect and organize the totality of this information and make it accessible to researchers and laypeople alike by providing an entry point to the wealth of biological data that is currently hidden in obscure
databases and journal articles." The project was
created on 28 August 2005, and, since then, has grown to
more than 150 members.
We asked some questions of
TimVickers (
talk·contribs), the coordinator of the Molecular and Cellular Biology WikiProject.
What is the best way for users unfamiliar with molecular and cellular biology topics or new to Wikipedia to get involved in the project
Dive in and help! Our
article worklist could be useful to help people see the most urgent tasks, or you could get involved in the
Collaboration of the Month. If you are interested in becoming part of the project in the long-term, just add yourself to the list of participants and get involved in the discussion pages.
What are some of the departments or sections of the project
We're not really sub-divided in that way, everybody has their own personal enthusiasms and areas of expertise, but we tend to work together quite loosely.
What are some of the project's most recent achievements
We have produced a lot last year. In terms of quality, we had seven MCB project FAs featured on the main page, and now have created
24 FAs in total (hopefully 25 quite soon, with
User:Sedmic putting
mitochondrion forward as a current candidate)! In terms of quantity,
User:WillowW produced an astounding array of
enzyme stubs and the
ProteinBoxBot run by
Andrew Su has now created several thousand stubs on human genes - we hope these stubs will be "seeds" that will attract more expert editors to improve them. The project is doing extremely well.
Are there currently any ongoing discussions concerning project issues or articles within the project's scope
Currently we are trying to decide which diagrams to request as part of the
Philip Greenspun illustration project and how best to collaborate with the
American Chemical Society in their setup of a
ACS Chemical Biology wiki. We're hopeful that forging links between the two communities could help us recruit more experts to edit MCB articles, as well as raising the profile of Wikipedia within the academic community.
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