The NCBI Short Genetic Variations database, commonly known as dbSNP, catalogs short variations in nucleotide sequences from a wide range of organisms. These variations include single nucleotide variations, short nucleotide insertions and deletions, short tandem repeats and microsatellites. Short Genetic Variations may be common, thus representing true polymorphisms, or they may be rare. Some rare human entries have additional information associated withthem, including disease associations, genotype information and allele origin, as some variations are somatic rather than germline events.
***NCBI will phase out support for non-human organism data in dbSNP and dbVar beginning on September 1, 2017***