[Biopython] Access Entrez gene DB using rettype 'gb'

[Brad Chapman]

David;

> Thanks, Brad and Peter, for your solutions. I'm going to use a modified
> version of Brad's Internet-based script to work with my genes of
> interest. I'll keep your solution in mind, Peter, in case I need to use
> the script offline in the future.

Glad that those worked out for you.

> One question that this has prompted (for me) is: Why not extend
> BioPython to support queries that NCBI does not, itself, support? I am a
> newcomer, but it seems like the Entrez model is simply a wrapper for the
> NCBI interfaces and protocols. But there is potential for more.
> 
> Is there any interest in boosting the Entrez model to support common
> tasks like bacterial gene lookups?

That sounds great. Biopython is completely open source and we
welcome contributions of general purpose, tested code. Support for
different tasks exists because generous folks had a need for that
functionality and coded it in a reusable way.

Entrez gene XML support would be a fairly big task, since there is
quite a bit in there that might be of interest to different users,
but definitely welcome.

Another useful contribution would be a Cookbook entry describing the
problem and solution. Since these are examples, they can be more
specific than a library but also provide useful direction and help
for others with similar needs:

http://biopython.org/wiki/Category:Cookbook

Thanks for the interest,
Brad