Help talk:Regulatory

A 'regulatory element' is often simplified into a 'promoter' but in the Registry it also includes (in addition to the RNA-polymerase binding site) the repressor/activator binding site. My suggestion is that these two (or three) regions which have well-defined characteristics and functions should be separated into distinct physical areas and carry different symbols. It might at this stage go too far into the BioBrick concept, but I believe it makes more sense making this development now than in a few years.
Additionally, I wish to suggest ;-) that the repressor binding region is depicted as --[R]-- (eg. red box with an R in it) and the activator binding region as --[A]-- (green box with an A). Further, since regulatory proteins are very important in SB, they could have separate icons as well, e.g. a red arrow --[R]--> for a repressor coding region. It would certainly add to easier understanding of composite regulatory networks. Try to explain fig. 1 in the recent Cell SB [http://www.cell.com/content/article/abstract?uid=PIIS0092867407006848 article] with currently used BioBrick icons and I am convinced you will agree with my proposals. [[http://parts.mit.edu/wiki/index.php/User:MDolinar MDolinar], July 30, 2007]