| name | pubmed-search |
| description | Search PubMed for scientific literature. Use when the user asks to find papers, search literature, look up research, find publications, or asks about recent studies. Triggers on "pubmed", "papers", "literature", "publications", "research on", "studies about". |
PubMed Search
Search NCBI PubMed for scientific literature using BioPython's Entrez module.
When to Use
- User asks to find papers on a topic
- User wants recent publications in a field
- User asks for references or citations
- User wants to know the state of research on a topic
How to Execute
1. Set up Entrez
from Bio import Entrez
Entrez.email = "medclaw@freedomai.com"
2. Search PubMed
handle = Entrez.esearch(db="pubmed", term="CRISPR delivery methods", retmax=20, sort="date")
record = Entrez.read(handle)
handle.close()
id_list = record["IdList"]
print(f"Found {record['Count']} results, showing top {len(id_list)}")
3. Fetch article details
handle = Entrez.efetch(db="pubmed", id=id_list, rettype="xml")
records = Entrez.read(handle)
handle.close()
for article in records['PubmedArticle']:
medline = article['MedlineCitation']
pmid = str(medline['PMID'])
title = medline['Article']['ArticleTitle']
authors = medline['Article'].get('AuthorList', [])
first_author = f"{authors[0].get('LastName', '')} {authors[0].get('Initials', '')}" if authors else "Unknown"
journal = medline['Article']['Journal']['Title']
pub_date = medline['Article']['Journal']['JournalIssue'].get('PubDate', {})
year = pub_date.get('Year', 'N/A')
abstract_parts = medline['Article'].get('Abstract', {}).get('AbstractText', [])
abstract = ' '.join(str(a) for a in abstract_parts)[:300]
print(f"PMID: {pmid}")
print(f"Title: {title}")
print(f"Authors: {first_author} et al.")
print(f"Journal: {journal} ({year})")
print(f"Abstract: {abstract}...")
print(f"Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/{pmid}/")
print()
4. Output format for WhatsApp
*PubMed Search: "CRISPR delivery methods"*
_Found 1,234 results. Top 5:_
*1.* Lipid nanoparticle-mediated CRISPR delivery...
_Smith J et al. — Nature (2026)_
PMID: 12345678
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12345678
*2.* AAV-based CRISPR therapeutics: advances and challenges
_Chen L et al. — Cell (2026)_
PMID: 12345679
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12345679
5. Advanced searches
Support these query patterns:
"CRISPR"[Title] AND "delivery"[Title] — title-specific
"2026"[Date - Publication] — date filter
"Nature"[Journal] — journal filter
review[Publication Type] — type filter
6. Follow-up suggestions
After showing results, suggest:
- "Want me to summarize any of these papers?"
- "Should I search with different keywords?"
- "Want me to find related papers to any of these?"