The SWAN Alzheimer Knowledge Base is being developed by Alzforum in collaboration with informaticians at the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease. The system is powered by SWAN (Semantic Web Application in Neuromedicine), which uses Semantic Web technology, a new standard for knowledge organization and transfer on the Web. SWAN organizes and manages knowledge using formal knowledge descriptions called ontologies, These formal knowledge descriptions enable us to tie statements made in scientific publications or on the Web, to scientific evidence, biological terminologies, and knowledge bases, and to claims and counterclaims made by other researchers.

The SWAN Alzheimer Knowledge Base currently contains a selected core of AD hypotheses annotated by our curators and members. Registered SWAN members may post comments. We welcome feedback on the functions and features of SWAN's AD Knowledge Base. Members are invited to submit new content.

CURRENT HYPOTHESES
This is a collection of virtual seminars, online journal club discussions, recorded talks and other presentations on the Alzforum website that describe a variety of scientific hypotheses about the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease. Readers are invited to submit commentaries on the posted hypotheses and contribute ideas about how these diverse hypotheses and data could be integrated into a more complete picture of the disease. A more extensive collection of hypotheses is being annotated for the SWAN Alzheimer Knowledge Base (see above). The ability to comment on SWAN claims will be available soon.


HYPOTHESIS FACTORY
Our Hypothesis Factory is devoted to the presentation and exchange of ideas regarding novel hypotheses, hunches, theories-in-progress, and wild speculation. It provides a forum where people can publicly present and discuss unconventional ideas, medical anecdotes, and other informal types of information that may nonetheless provide useful insights.