[Chinook] chinook novice asks: p2p for bioinformatics data (rather than services)?

[Paul Shannon]

The chinook list seems like a plausible place for me to ask this question; forgive me
if I misjudge.

Does anyone know of projects which share bioinformatics data using p2p?  

For example, I might be looking for (or wishing to provide)

   1) microarray data from blood-stage plasmodium falciparum
   2) transmembrane domains in mouse proteins
   3) curated protein-protein networks related to macrophage activation in human

We now track a number of data-providing websites, gather gossip from
collaborators, download data, try to make sense of it in context, and
parse it into our data analysis programs.  We are prone to miss
relevant data entirely; we miss important updates; we don't have
an easy way to distribute our own public data to others.

Perhaps 'data p2p' might be an answer, using standard formats when
they are available; self-describing data would be ideal.  Others in
the bioinformatics community have surely thought about this.  Can
anyone fill me in?

Many thanks!

  - Paul Shannon
    Institute for Systems Biology and the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute
    Seattle