Knowledgebase · FAIRsharing
MetaCyc
Compounds and reactions
MetaCyc is the largest curated collection of metabolic pathways currently available. It provides a comprehensive resource for metabolic pathways and enzymes from all domains of life. The pathways in MetaCyc are experimentally determined, small-molecule metabolic pathways, and are curated from the primary scientific literature. Most reactions in MetaCyc pathways are linked to one or more well-characterized enzymes, and both pathways and enzymes are annotated with reviews, evidence codes, and literature citations. As of 2025 MetaCyc describes 3,260 pathways and 20,040 reactions curated from 80,000 publications. MetaCyc is a general reference on metabolic pathways, and is used for metabolic reconstruction from sequenced genomes, and for gap-filling metabolic models.
- Website
- Record in FAIRsharing (doi:10.25504/FAIRsharing.yytevr)
- Subjects: Life Science, Metabolomics, Systems Biology
Documentation, events and training
bio.tools API and tool documentation
- MetaCyc (same homepage)
What is known per question
The questions of the decision tree, with what FAIRsharing says about this repository. ✓ supported, ✗ excluded, ? not known. Your own answers are marked.
What kind of data do you want to archive?
- ? Spectra
- ? Crystal structures
- ? Computational chemistry
- ? Catalysis
- ✓ Compounds and reactions
- ? Bioassays and chemical biology
- ? Materials and polymers
- ? Images and microscopy
- ? Something else
Subjects: Life Science; Metabolomics; Systems Biology
Domains: Annotation; Data analysis; enzyme; pathway; small molecule
Does the journal or publisher you publish with require or recommend a repository?
- ? Yes
- ? No
- ? I do not know
FAIRsharing has no information on this.
Which discipline does your data belong to?
FAIRsharing has no information on this.
Which publisher?
FAIRsharing has no information on this.
Does your funder have requirements for where data is archived?
- ? Yes
- ? No
- ? I do not know
FAIRsharing has no information on this.
Which funder?
FAIRsharing has no information on this.
Does your institution offer a data repository?
- ? Yes
- ? No
- ? I do not know
FAIRsharing has no information on this.
Which institution?
FAIRsharing has no information on this.
Can your data be shared openly?
- ✗ Yes, openly available
- ? Yes, after an embargo
- ✓ Only with restrictions
Data access: controlled: Creation of a free BioCyc account is required after an initial set of accesses even for paid subscribers.
Data deposition: controlled: If you are a Pathway Tools user and have created a pathway that fits our criteria, please send it to us.
How large is your dataset?
- ? Less than 1 GB
- ? 1 GB to 50 GB
- ? 50 GB to 1 TB
- ? More than 1 TB
FAIRsharing has no information on this.
Why can the data not be open?
- ? It contains personal data
- ? Commercial or intellectual property reasons
- ? Safety or security concerns
- ? A data sharing agreement limits it
FAIRsharing has no information on this.
Under which license do you want to share the data?
- ? CC0 / public domain
- ? CC BY
- ? Another open license
- ? Not decided yet
Licences: BioCyc Database License
Do you need a persistent identifier, such as a DOI, for citing the data?
- ? Yes, a DOI
- ? Any persistent identifier will do
- ? No
FAIRsharing has no information on this.
Must the data be stored in a specific region?
- ✗ In the European Union
- ? In a specific country
- ✓ No preference
Country: United States
Must archiving be free of charge?
- ? Yes, free only
- ? A fee is fine
FAIRsharing has no information on this.
Which country?
✓ 1 of 15 in the list ✗ excludes 14
Country: United States