Biological databases impose particular limitations on how biological objects can be related to one another. In other words, the structure of a database predetermines the sorts of biological relationships that can be 'discovered'. To use the language of Bowler and Star, the database 'torques,' or twists, objects into particular conformations with respect to one another. The creation of a database generates a particular and rigid structure of relationships between biological objects, and these relationships guide biologists in thinking about how living systems work. The evolution of Gen Bank from flat-file too relational to federated database paralleled biologists' moves from gene-centric to alignment-centric to multielement views of biological action.

Life Out of Sequence: A Data-Driven History of Bioinformatics