Mic Nutrient Creation

MIC Nutrient Extraction Skill

Overview

Guide the creation of new nutrient YAML files in the MIC knowledge base. The MIC website (lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic) serves as the authoritative research source. This skill emphasizes evidence-based extraction with proper ontology grounding.

When to Use

• User asks to create a new nutrient entry
• User asks to curate a vitamin, mineral, or dietary factor
• User names a nutrient that doesn't exist in kb/nutrients/

This skill can also be consulted for ongoing curation of existing nutrients.

Workflow

Step 1: Identify Nutrient and Category

Determine the nutrient and its category:

• vitamins/ - Water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins
• minerals/ - Essential mineral elements
• dietary-factors/ - Other dietary factors (fiber, flavonoids, etc.)
• food-beverages/ - Specific foods or beverages

Check if it already exists:

ls kb/nutrients/**/*.yaml

Step 2: Mark as In Progress

Update CURATION-PROGRESS.md to mark the nutrient as in progress:

1. Find the nutrient's line in the file
2. Change [ ] to [~] to indicate work has started
3. Optionally add a note about what's being worked on

Example: Change this line:

- [ ] Folate (`kb/nutrients/vitamins/folate.yaml`)

To:

- [~] Folate (`kb/nutrients/vitamins/folate.yaml`) - in progress

This helps track curation status and prevents duplicate work.

Step 3: Fetch MIC Page Content

Download the MIC page using the just fetch-mic-page command:

# Format: just fetch-mic-page {category}/{nutrient}
just fetch-mic-page vitamins/biotin
just fetch-mic-page minerals/calcium
just fetch-mic-page dietary-factors/lipoic-acid

This downloads the HTML to cache/mic-pages/{nutrient}.html.

Verify the download:

ls -la cache/mic-pages/biotin.html

Step 4: Extract Reference Mapping

IMPORTANT: Before adding evidence, extract the MIC reference number → PMID mapping:

# Get TSV mapping of ref# to PMID
just extract-refs cache/mic-pages/biotin.html

This outputs a TSV with columns: source, reference_number, pubmed_id, citation

Example output:

source          reference_number  pubmed_id       citation
biotin.html     1                               Zempleni J, Wijeratne SSK...
biotin.html     2                 PMID:10357733  Mock DM. Biotin...
biotin.html     3                 PMID:15992684  Zempleni J, Hassan YI...

Key points:

• Empty pubmed_id = book chapter or non-PMID source (use mic_references only)
• Has pubmed_id = can fetch abstract and add PMID evidence
• The reference_number corresponds to mic_references values in the YAML

Save the mapping for reference during curation:

just extract-refs cache/mic-pages/biotin.html > cache/refs/biotin-refs.tsv

Step 5: Create Initial YAML File

Create kb/nutrients/{category}/{nutrient}.yaml with the basic structure:

name: Biotin
nutrient_term:
  preferred_term: biotin
  term:
    id: CHEBI:15956
    label: biotin
category: vitamin
source_url: https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/vitamins/biotin
alternate_names:
  - Vitamin B7
  - Vitamin H
description: |
  Biotin is a water-soluble B vitamin...

functions: []
deficiency: null
toxicity: null
food_sources: []
drug_interactions: []
nutrient_interactions: []
disease_associations: []
recommendations: null
references: []

Validate the structure:

just validate kb/nutrients/vitamins/biotin.yaml

Step 6: Extract Section by Section

For each MIC page section, read the content and extract structured data:

Functions Section

Extract biological roles, enzymes, and processes:

functions:
  - name: Cofactor for Carboxylases
    description: |
      Biotin serves as a covalently bound cofactor for five mammalian
      carboxylases that catalyze carbon dioxide transfer reactions.
    biological_processes:
      - preferred_term: fatty acid biosynthesis
        term:
          id: GO:0006633
          label: fatty acid biosynthetic process
    genes:
      - preferred_term: PC
        description: Pyruvate carboxylase
        term:
          id: HGNC:8636
          label: PC
    evidence:
      - reference: PMID:10357733
        supports: SUPPORT
        snippet: "Biotin serves as a covalently bound coenzyme for five mammalian carboxylases"
        explanation: Directly supports biotin's role as carboxylase cofactor

Deficiency Section

Extract symptoms, at-risk groups, and causes:

deficiency:
  name: Biotin Deficiency
  description: |
    Biotin deficiency is rare in healthy individuals...
  phenotypes:
    - name: Dermatitis
      phenotype_term:
        preferred_term: dermatitis
        term:
          id: HP:0000964
          label: Eczema
      frequency: FREQUENT
      evidence:
        - reference: PMID:10357733
          supports: SUPPORT
          snippet: "dermatitis, conjunctivitis, and alopecia"
  at_risk_groups:
    - name: Pregnant women
      description: Marginal biotin deficiency common during pregnancy

Disease Prevention Section

Extract disease associations:

disease_associations:
  - name: Biotin and Neural Tube Defects
    disease_term:
      preferred_term: neural tube defect
      term:
        id: MONDO:0005343
        label: neural tube defect
    relationship_type: RISK_FACTOR
    direction: DECREASED
    population_context: pregnant women with marginal biotin status
    evidence:
      - reference: PMID:16549401
        supports: SUPPORT
        snippet: "low biotin status during early pregnancy..."

Food Sources Section

Extract dietary sources:

food_sources:
  - name: Egg yolk
    food_term:
      preferred_term: egg yolk
      term:
        id: FOODON:00002669
        label: egg yolk
    amount: "10 mcg"
    serving_size: "1 large egg"

Drug Interactions Section

Extract interactions with medications:

drug_interactions:
  - name: Anticonvulsants and Biotin
    drug_term:
      preferred_term: anticonvulsant
    interaction_type: REDUCES_ABSORPTION
    clinical_significance: MODERATE
    evidence:
      - reference: PMID:8157857
        supports: SUPPORT
        snippet: "long-term anticonvulsant therapy..."

Step 7: Ground Entities to Ontologies

Use OAK to find correct ontology terms:

CHEBI (nutrients)

uv run runoak -i sqlite:obo:chebi info "biotin"
uv run runoak -i sqlite:obo:chebi info "l~ascorbic acid"

HP (phenotypes)

uv run runoak -i sqlite:obo:hp info "l~dermatitis"
uv run runoak -i sqlite:obo:hp info HP:0000964

GO (biological processes)

uv run runoak -i sqlite:obo:go info "l~fatty acid biosynthesis"

MONDO (diseases)

uv run runoak -i sqlite:obo:mondo info "l~neural tube defect"

FOODON (foods)

uv run runoak -i sqlite:obo:foodon info "l~egg yolk"

HGNC (genes)

uv run runoak -i sqlite:obo:hgnc info "l~pyruvate carboxylase"

Step 8: Add Evidence

Use the reference mapping from Step 4 to add evidence. For each mic_references number:

1. Check if PMID exists in your ref mapping TSV
2. If PMID exists: Fetch abstract and add evidence with exact quote
3. If no PMID (book/database): Keep mic_references only, no PMID evidence

evidence:
  - reference: PMID:12345678
    supports: SUPPORT
    snippet: "Exact quote from abstract"
    explanation: "Why this supports the claim"

Fetch and verify abstracts:

# Look up PMID for MIC reference number (from Step 3 mapping)
# e.g., ref 55 → PMID:15585762

just fetch-reference PMID:15585762
cat cache/references/pmid_15585762.md

Evidence Rules

1. NEVER fabricate PMIDs - Only use PMIDs from the MIC page references (Step 3 mapping)
2. NEVER paraphrase snippets - Use exact quotes from abstracts
3. Always verify - Fetch and check abstracts before using
4. Book references are OK - If MIC ref has no PMID, use mic_references without evidence block

Step 9: Validate

Run all validation checks:

# Schema validation
just validate kb/nutrients/vitamins/biotin.yaml

# Term validation (ontology IDs and labels)
just validate-terms-file kb/nutrients/vitamins/biotin.yaml

# Reference validation (snippets match abstracts)
just validate-references kb/nutrients/vitamins/biotin.yaml

# Full QC
just qc

Step 10: Compliance Check and Mark Complete

Check completeness:

just compliance kb/nutrients/vitamins/biotin.yaml

Address high-priority missing fields first:

1. nutrient_term.term (weight 5.0)
2. disease_associations[].disease_term.term (weight 3.0)
3. deficiency.phenotypes[].phenotype_term.term (weight 3.0)
4. Evidence items (weight 2.0)

When all validation passes, update CURATION-PROGRESS.md to mark the nutrient as completed:

1. Find the nutrient's line in the file
2. Change [~] to [x] to indicate completion
3. Remove any "in progress" note

Example: Change this line:

- [~] Folate (`kb/nutrients/vitamins/folate.yaml`) - in progress

To:

- [x] Folate (`kb/nutrients/vitamins/folate.yaml`)

File Naming Convention

Use lowercase with hyphens:

• "Vitamin B12" -> vitamin-b12.yaml
• "Alpha-Lipoic Acid" -> alpha-lipoic-acid.yaml
• "Coenzyme Q10" -> coenzyme-q10.yaml

Minimum Required Fields

A new nutrient file MUST include at minimum:

Common Validation Errors

"Term not found in ontology"

Re-run OAK lookup with fuzzy search:

uv run runoak -i sqlite:obo:chebi info "l~<term>"

"Snippet not found in reference"

The quoted text must be from the PMID's abstract. Fetch and verify:

just fetch-reference PMID:12345678

"Required field missing"

Check the schema for required fields. nutrient_term is always required.

Integration with Other Skills

• Use mic-terms for detailed ontology term lookups
• Use mic-references to validate/repair evidence items
• Use mic-compliance to check completeness

Anti-Hallucination Checklist

Before finalizing a nutrient file, verify:

• All PMIDs are from the MIC page references
• All snippets are exact quotes from PubMed abstracts
• CHEBI term exists and label matches exactly
• HP terms exist and labels match exactly
• GO terms exist and labels match exactly
• MONDO terms exist and labels match exactly
• FOODON terms exist and labels match exactly
• just validate passes
• just validate-terms-file passes
• just validate-references passes