The importance of transcriptional control has been explored in a burgeoning line of research over several decades; nevertheless, we are still far from having a complete picture of the regulatory mechanisms of genes and non-coding RNAs, and their influences on different phenotypes and disease states of a cell. Recent shifts towards large-scale analyses of transcriptional regulation on a sequence and epigenetic level are at the forefront of research, mainly due to sequencing technology advancements and a deeper understanding of the fundamental regulatory processes involved.

Arriving at a better understanding of the influence of specific parts of the overall regulatory machinery on disease states is a high priority of the group’s research agenda.

We are seeking an enthusiastic student to join the group as a PhD student. Applicants must have a BSc(Hons) or MSc degree in a relevant discipline and a willingness to learn and apply new techniques and work in a team. Both local and international students are encouraged to apply.

The studentship covers all university fees and an annual tax-exempt stipend of NZ$22,000 for three years.

Sebastian Schmeier recently joined Massey University and started his own research group in Auckland, New Zealand, a city regularly ranked one of the most livable in the world. This is your chance to experience the amazing Auckland lifestyle and the excitement of joining a young new science team, while staying connected to world class scientific networks.

To apply for the post, please send a cover letter stating your interest in the position and why you think you would be a good candidate, a Curriculum Vitae, a copy of your academic transcript, a sample of your written scientific work, and the names of three referees. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

Enquiries and applications to Sebastian Schmeier (s.schmeier@massey.ac.nz).

ADVERTISEMENT NO: NITR/SR/CH-BIF/2014/30

Applications are invited on prescribed format for the following assignment in a purely time bound research project undertaken in the Department of Biotechnology & Medical Engineering of the Institute.

1. Name of the Temporary Post : Senior Research Fellow-01
2. Name of the Research Project: “ Bioinformatics Infrastructure Facility (BIF)”
3. Name of the Sponsoring Agency: DBT, Government of India, 4 Tenure of the Project : 12th Five year Plan
5 Tenure of the Assignment : 01 year [Likely to be extended for 04 more years]
6 Job Description : BIF Maintenance and Active Research in Bioinformatics
7. Consolidated monthly compensation / Fellowship: Rs.18,000/- P.M.

8. Essential Qualifications and experience: B.Tech with valid GATE Score or M.Tech degree in Biotechnology/Bioinformatics/Computer Science/Computational Biology
9. Desirable Qualifications/ Experiences: Experience of Programming in PERL,R, Python, Unix and Visual Studio + Knowledge in NGS data analysis work flows ,WGS and statistical packages such as CRAN-R,MATLAB etc.

10. Accommodation : Bachelor accommodation in the Institute may be provided subject to availability.
11. For technical information on the project, the candidate may contact the Principal Investigator at the following address:

Name : Prof. Mukesh K Gupta
Address : Dept. of Biotechnology & Medical Engineering,
N.I.T.Rourkela-769 008
Telephone No : 0661-2462294
E-mail : guptam@nitrkl.ac.in

Eligible persons may apply in the prescribed format (available in the Institute Website)affixed with coloured photographs to be submitted in duplicate along with photo copies of relevant certificates, grade/ mark sheets, publications etc., to Asst. Registrar, SRICCE,
National Institute of Technology, Rourkela–769 008 before 22.08.2014. The cover should be super- scribed clearly the post applied for & Name of the Project.

Mere possession of minimum qualification does not guarantee invitation to the interview.
Candidates will be short listed based on merit and need of the project.

Advertisement:

http://www.nitrkl.ac.in/IntraWeb/Jobs_Tenders/Jobs/ProjectFellowship/2014/141707192838_1.pdf

Biocon, India's largest publicly-held biotechnology firm, launched its second novel 'lab-to-market' molecule, Alzumab, to treat chronic plaque psoriasis at a cost 50 per cent lower than the existing one.

Biocon is bringing Alzumab (a biologic) in the form of a vial after working on it for nearly a decade. The work had initially started in a joint effort with the Center of Molecular Immunology, Havana, but Biocon took control of the programme soon after and also bought out its partner a few years ago. Biocon tell to the media that genotypic played a critical role in functional studies and clinical trial Genomics.

The Biocon drug, at around ₹ 7,500 a vial, will cost half as much as the currently available drugs - from Pfizer and J&J - to treat psoriasis, a skin disease that causes rough red areas where the skin comes off in small pieces. A patient is usually prescribed to consume more than 40 vials in a 24-week course.

Studentship and Traineeship in Bioinformatics

Applications are invited on plain paper from suitable candidates for Studentship and Traineeship (One each) at Bioinformatics Sub-Center as detailed below:

1. Studentship: Studentship is for those who have completed M. Sc. Degrees in Life Science.

Number of seats : One

Duration : Six months

Eligibility : Passed M.Sc. degree in Life Sciences.

Fellowship : Rs. 5000/- (Five thousand only) per month

2. Traineeship: Traineeship is for those who have completed M. Sc. Degrees in Life Science/Registered Ph. D. student in Life Sciences.

Number of seats : One

Duration : Six months

Eligibility : Passed M.Sc. degree in Life Sciences/ Registered Ph. D. student in Life Sciences

Fellowship : Rs. 5000/- (Five thousand only) per month

Preferences will be given to person who has experience in Bioinformatics and Computer
sciences. The application along with detailed bio-data should reach the undersigned, on or before 25th August 2014. Both, the studentship and the traineeship are temporary, will be discontinued after the six months from the date of Joining. It may be discontinued in-between without any notice, if the work is not found satisfactory.

Advertisement www.bioinfobubpl.nic.in/Advertisement_st.pdf

The vital metaphase stage of cell division, when the sister chromatids migrated to the centre and lined up in a row, and pulled apart using attached microtubules in such a way that half the DNA ends up in each daughter cell. However, before the mitotic spindle‐mediated movement gets start and pulled DNA apart, the chromosomes are free to undergo recombination which involves the exchange of genetic material either between multiple chromosomes or between different regions of the same chromosome.

During recombination, the precise breakage of each strand, exchange between the strands, and sealing of the resulting recombined molecules happens. The “chromosomal breakpoints” refers to these places where they break. Mostly, this process occurs with a high degree of accuracy at high frequency in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. But occasionally this “break and sealing/ break and reattach” process goes wrong and the reattachment happens in the wrong place which usually create disaster (with few exceptions).These chromosome disaster or abnormalities involve the gain, loss or rearrangement of visible amounts of genetic material during cell division. These abnormalities are of two type, the first one is numerical abnormalities  where severe disorders are caused by the loss or gain of whole chromosomes, which affect the copy number of hundreds or even thousands of genes. The second are structural abnormalities which can be unbalanced or balanced. The former are similar to numerical abnormalities in that genetic material is either gained or lost. The natural defects in chromosome segregation are linked to cancer and several genetic diseases (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_genetic_disorders). Therefore, the enzymes involved in regulating cell division are still the attractive drug targets for many diseases.

Apart from certain chromosome abnormalities, these “crossing over” of segments of maternal and paternal chromosomes to form hybrid chromosomes have some evolutionary importance and considered as a driver of genetic variation. Moreover, the chromosome breakage in evolution is considered to be non-random in nature(http://www.ploscompbiol.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pcbi.0020014). In addition the study of breakpoint regions and non-breakpoint (stable) regions of chromosomes indicates both the regions evolved in distinctly different ways ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2675965/). These breakage may lead to genetic diseases or participate to chromosomal rearranmgnets and contributed in development of new species.

I will try to explain the genome hotspots/Evolutionary Breakpoint Regions(EBRs)/fragile regions/weak fragments/  in my next blog.

Software for recombination detection:

RAT http://cbr.jic.ac.uk/dicks/software/RAT/

Breakpointer https://github.com/ruping/Breakpointer

DRP http://web.cbio.uct.ac.za/~darren/rdp.html

RB-finder http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18707535

LDhat2.0 http://ldhat.sourceforge.net/LDhat2.0/instructions.shtml

Reference:

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/genetic-recombination-514#

Image: Wikipedia , sciencelearn.org.nz

Recommended Articles:

http://www.friendshipcircle.org/blog/2012/05/22/13-chromosomal-disorders-youve-never-heard-of/

http://web.udl.es/usuaris/e4650869/docencia/segoncicle/genclin98/recursos_classe_%28pdf%29/revisionsPDF/chromosyndromes.pdf

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2775595/table/T2/

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/disorders/chromosomal/

http://www.ncert.nic.in/html/learning_basket/biology/cc&cd.pdf

Walk in interview for guest faculty in Pondicherry University, India. For more information please visit http://www.bicpu.edu.in/bioinfor140814.pdf

(1) identifying and estimating surrogate variables for unknown sources of variation in high-throughput experiments (Leek and Storey 2007 PLoS Genetics,2008 PNAS),

(2) directly removing known batch effects using ComBat (Johnson et al. 2007 Biostatistics) and

(3) removing batch effects with known control probes (Leek 2014 biorXiv).

Removing batch effects and using surrogate variables in differential expression analysis have been shown to reduce dependence, stabilize error rate estimates, and improve reproducibility, see (Leek and Storey 2007 PLoS Genetics, 2008 PNAS or Leek et al. 2011 Nat. Reviews Genetics).

More at http://www.bioconductor.org/packages/release/bioc/html/sva.html

DNAApp: for iPhone/iPad

This is an iOS app that allows for the opening and analysis of DNA sequencing files - ab1. It includes handy tools such as "Reverse Complement", "Jump to", "Copy and Paste sequences", fast and end scrolling, "Chromatogram adjustments", and "Searching for segments" functions.
When used in combination with other zip apps, and also web-tools like Blast, this app allows you to analyze, and also determine the quality of your sequencing files.
This app works with cloud storage access like Dropbox to your sequencing files.
This is now compatible with the new update for iOS 7.1.
Demo video can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXeo9hXdZgM 

More @ https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dnaapp/id854944694?mt=8

DNAApp: For android

This is the first android app that allows for the opening and analysis of DNA sequencing files - ab1. It includes handy tools such as "Reverse Complement", "Jump to", fast and end scrolling, "Chromatogram adjustments", amino acid translations, "export to fasta", and "searching for segment" function.

• When used in combination with other zip apps, and also web-tools like Blast, this app allows you to analyze, and also determine the quality of your sequencing files.
• This app works with cloud storage access like Dropbox to your sequencing files.
• This is now compatible with the new update for Android 4.4.2.

More @  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bii.seqdatreader&hl=en

BioGene:iPhone/iPad

BioGene is an information tool for biological research. Use BioGene to learn about gene function. Enter a gene symbol or gene name, for example "CDK4" or "cyclin dependent kinase 4" and BioGene will retrieve its gene function and references into its function (GeneRIF).

• BioGene was produced in affiliation with the Computational Biology Center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center with primary information from Entrez Gene at the NCBI.

More @  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/biogene/id333180084?mt=8

Mentha - the interactome browser: Android

About: mentha - the interactome browser, is a project that offers protein-protein physical/enzymatic interaction information from various sources. For more details about mentha, visit mentha's website. This client application is an independent project. This application is designed to allow you to search proteins on the go.

Key features (Also in website):

• Search proteins by UniProt IDs, gene name or keywords
• Collect proteins from different queries.
• Spot common interactors in clusters.
• Easily distinguish between proteins from Homo sapiens and other organisms (Yellow rounded rectangles)
• Click on edges(links) to get scientific evidence.
• Click on proteins to see descriptions.

More @  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sinnefa.mentha&hl=en

GeneIndex: iPhone/iPad

GeneIndex quickly provides information about genes from various sources. It also includes a RSS reader for journal feeds as well as a PubMed viewer.

Key Features:

• Look up genes by symbol or description.
• Gene indexes for many mammals, plants, invertebrates, and bacteria.
• Link to gene info on websites.
• Download files for offline use. (.pdf, .mp3, .m4v, .doc, .ppt, .xls )
• transfer files via open in, email, or iTunes file sharing
• View RSS feeds for journals
• Query GeneRIF interactions, COSMIC mutations, and CNV data for cell lines.
• Does not require a network connection for local databases.
• View and search PubMed in table view.

GeneIndex provides a convenient and portable way to lookup gene symbols while at a seminar, conference, or lab meeting. Genes are linked to common life science websites such as NCBI, COSMIC, KEGG, PubMed, SymAtlas, UCSC genome browser, Pathway Commons, Genatlas, Wikipedia, HUGO, and OMIM. GeneRIF gene interactions can also be queried.

• Keep current on the scientific literature. GeneIndex includes a RSS reader and web browser for browsing popular journals like Nature, Science, and Cell. You can also add your own RSS feeds. PDFs and podcasts can be saved as files that you can view on the device or email as attachments.
• Examine the status of genes in common cell lines. A subset of COSMIC containing cell lines can be queried for mutations. Copy Number Variation (CNV) plots from cell lines profiled by GSK and Sanger are also linked to genes.

More @  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/geneindex/id319769866?mt=8

Genome Voyager: iPad

Gain first hand experience identifying the genomic basis of disease by analyzing cases with whole genome sequencing data that have been published for research and learning purposes.

• Visualize whole human genome sequencing data including small variations, copy number variations (CNVs), and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) events
• Quickly find variants of interest by filtering variants based on associated genes, functional impact, allele frequency in data sets, and cross-references with various genomic databases.
• Collaborate on variant assessments with other researchers and academics to improve knowledge of both pathogenic and benign variants.
  To use Genome Voyager, users must join Genome Voyager’s community of researchers and academics. Visit http://voyager.completegenomics.com to signup.

More @  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/genome-voyager/id637353801?mt=8

YeastGenome: iPhone/iPad

Use YeastGenome to quickly find fundamental information about Saccharomyces cerevisae genes and chromosomal features. Search gene names, gene descriptions or browse the database to find information about your favorite gene, as well as more detailed information such as Gene Ontology, mutant phenotype, and protein and genetic interaction data.
YeastGenome contains the latest from the Saccharomyces Genome Database (www.yeastgenome.org) in an on bound app database. As more detailed information is presented the app switches to web services access to SGD, and then for even more details provides complete information via hyperlinks to the appropriate SGD database pages.

Key features:

• Search using gene name or keywords
• Browse by feature type
• Save your favorite features
• Can be used in airplane mode
• Email information about features to collaborators

What's New in Version 1.8.1

• This update is required to provide continued functionality. Some of the data provided by this app accesses the SGD service using a method that is changing in May 2013. This version provides changes to allow access to continue. The on board database of yeast gene information has also been updated to March 2013.

More @  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yeastgenome/id520868597?mt=8

SNPdbe: iPhone/iPad

SNPdbe — SNP database of effects, with predictions of computationally annotated functional impacts of SNPs. Database entries represent nsSNPs in dbSNP and 1000 Genomes collection, as well as variants from UniProt and PMD. SAASs come from >2600 organisms; ‘human’ being the most prevalent. The impact of each SAAS on protein function is predicted using the SNAP and SIFT algorithms and augmented with experimentally derived function/structure information and disease associations from PMD, OMIM and UniProt.

More @  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/snpdbe/id588289719?mt=8

SimGene: iPhone/iPad / Android

SimGene: for iPhone/iPad

SimGene is an iPhone/iPad/iPod touch application designed for molecular biologists, bioinformaticians and medical researchers. The application interfaces with Simbiot, Ensembl, NCBI, Gene Ontology, KEGG Pathways, PubMed, Genomic Variations and many other databases to retrieve up-to-date annotation information for over 30 species, based on gene symbol search. The application provides gene and transcript cross reference information for NCBI, Ensembl, RefSeq and UniProt. SimGene also contains an integrated genome browser with information on genes, transcripts, exons and SNPs.

More @  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/simgene/id427772349?mt=8

SimGene: for Android

bioinformaticians and medical researchers. The application interfaces with Simbiot,Ensembl, NCBI, Gene Ontology, KEGG Pathways, PubMed, Genomic Variations andmany other databases to retrieve up-to-date annotation information for over 30species, based on gene symbol search. The application provides gene and transcriptcross reference information for NCBI, Ensembl, RefSeq and UniProt. SimGene alsocontains an integrated genome browser with information on genes, transcripts,exons and SNPs.

More @  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?

TimeTree: iPhone/iPad

TimeTree is a public knowledge-base for information on the evolutionary timescale of life. This application allows easy exploration of the thousands of divergence times among organisms in the scientific literature. A tree-based (hierarchical) system is used to identify all published molecular time estimates bearing on the divergence of two chosen organisms, such as species, compute summary statistics, and present the results. Names of two taxa to be compared are entered in the search window and the results are presented on a set of self-explanatory tabs.

• TimeTree 3.0 was released September 27, 2011 with new data from 1209 studies including 25342 time nodes. We will be adding more data in the future as it comes in from researchers.
• TimeTree is jointly directed by Blair Hedges (Pennsylvania State University) and Sudhir Kumar (Arizona State University). This project has been supported, in part, by grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, NASA Astrobiology Institute, and Science Foundation of Arizona.

More @  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/timetree/id372842500?mt=8

GeneGroove: iPhone/iPad

GeneGroove is the first application to create a music melody from DTC-Genomics data. If you own 23andMe (Mountain View, CA) personal genomic results, GeneGroove will create for you a unique melody intimately based on your 23andMe genome informations. The music in you.

• After uploading your 23andMe raw data onto your iPhone via iTunes, GeneGroove will analyze your genome informations and generate a unique identifier key. This key, called the GeNumber, will embed the uniqueness of your genome data while keeping your privacy safe, and will be used by GeneGroove to generate your music melody.
• The GeNumber doesn't contain anymore genomic information but it is based on your genome and it is unique, it is yours. It will be used in upcoming Portable Genomics applications to mix and remix music, manipulate sounds and share your art with your friends and family.

More @  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/genegroove/id492247404?mt=8