BOL: Related items

A Bioinformatician’s Lament

LEGE — Thu, 29 May 2025 01:33:31 -0500

"I have a presentation tomorrow," they say,

With hopeful eyes, like it’s all child's play.
As if results bloom overnight, full-grown—
Not wrangled from chaos, and error-prone.

Oh brave soul, sit, let’s walk through the tale,
Of pipelines broken and servers that fail.
The journey starts: “The data? It’s there—
Just fetch it from S3, easy, I swear.”

Now I summon awscli with dread,
Reset my keys, credentials fed.
Configure regions, IAM roles too—
All this, and still no peek at the view.

Next up, the tool: “It’s open source!”
On GitHub, rotting, no sign of remorse.
Python 2.7, some GCC trick—
The install alone might make you sick.

Finally, progress! The pipeline runs…
Till RAM collapses and error stuns.
Oh, and the metadata? A crime,
Merged cells, font soup, out of time.

Sample IDs—what a cryptic game:
Sample_1, S1, sample-1... the same?
Controls mislabeled, cases flipped,
No wonder my sanity's starting to slip.

Then QC plots, PCA joy—
Wait, that’s a tumor labeled as a boy?
Clusters cross, and axes lie,
And I still don’t know which sample’s "guy."

But the clock ticks on, and it’s half-past doom,
They want the final UMAP soon.
With pastel colors, labeled clear—
"Can we move that legend to right here?"

Tweak by tweak, I adjust each frame,
Resize Panel B, annotate a name.
Export the plot—it starts to gleam…
Then my laptop crashes. I scream.

This is the grind, the long-haul game,
Where science hides behind code and flame.
No “Export to Nature” button to press,
Just toil and logic and hope for success.

So next time you whisper that fated line—
“I have a talk, can you make it shine?”
Know: bioinformatics is craft, not a click,
It’s science with scars, not just a quick fix.

To all who debug at 3AM light,
Who ghostwrite figures through sleepless night—
You are the backbone, silent and true,
First-author-worthy, if only they knew.

"कल मेरी प्रेज़ेंटेशन है," वो कहते हैं,

आशा भरी आँखों से, जैसे सब सहज है।
जैसे परिणाम रातोंरात प्रकट हो जाएं—
ना कि डेटा की भूलभुलैया से उखाड़े जाएं।

आओ बैठो, एक किस्सा सुनाता हूँ,
जहाँ पाइपलाइन टूटती है, और सर्वर भी थक जाते हैं।
कहानी शुरू होती है: “डेटा तो है—
बस S3 बकेट में, एकदम पास में कहीं।”

अब awscli बुलाता हूँ डरते हुए,
कुंजी सेट करूँ, क्रेडेंशियल जोड़ूं, रीजन भरूँ।
इतनी मशक्कत, फिर भी डेटा नहीं मिला,
बस सेटअप में ही पूरा दिन चला।

फिर आता है टूल: “ओपन-सोर्स है!”
GitHub पर है, 2019 से सूखा पड़ा है।
Python 2.7 चाहिए, एक पुराना कम्पाइलर,
और साथ में थोड़ी सी दुआ की ताकत।

आख़िरकार टूल चला, खुशी सी हुई,
लेकिन रन करते ही, मेमोरी ने हार मानी।
और मेटाडेटा? एक एक्सेल की आफ़त,
मर्ज़ किए हुए सेल, बस और क्या चाहिए काफ़ियत?

सैंपल आईडी? बस भगवान ही जाने—
Sample_1, sample-1, S1, और control1—
ये सब एक ही सैंपल हैं क्या?
पता तब चलता है जब पूछो दो-तीन बार।

काउंट मैट्रिक्स तैयार, अब R या Python की बारी,
QC करो, PCA प्लॉट—पर कुछ गड़बड़ भारी।
ट्यूमर और नॉर्मल का अदला-बदली खेल,
बार-बार, वही पुरानी झमेल।

आख़िर में आया मॉडलिंग का समय,
स्टैट्स, प्लॉट्स, डिफरेंशियल एक्सप्रेशन का श्रम।
लेकिन घड़ी में 5 बज चुके हैं जनाब,
और 8 बजे तक UMAP चाहिए, साफ़-सुथरा जबाब।

तो मैं कोड लिखता हूँ रात भर बैठ कर,
कलर पैलेट, जीन लेबल, लीजेंड बाहर रख कर।
फ़ॉन्ट, पैनल, एक्सिस सब सुधार,
एक्सपोर्ट करता हूँ... और लैपटॉप कहता है—"अब नहीं यार!"

इसीलिए बायोइन्फॉर्मेटिक्स में लगता है समय,
ये “बस सीरत चलाओ” या “वोल्कैनो प्लॉट बनाओ” नहीं है।
ये है सिस्टम एडमिन का काम, डेटा की सफ़ाई,
QC, डिबगिंग, और सांइस की सच्ची लड़ाई।

तो कुछ सीखें इस व्यथा से आप भी आज:
24 घंटे पहले चमत्कार मत माँगिए।
अच्छे फ़िगर साफ़ डेटा से बनते हैं।
बायोइन्फॉर्मेटिक्स जादू नहीं, विज्ञान है।
समय से बात कीजिए, प्रक्रिया का सम्मान कीजिए।

और उन सभी बायोइन्फॉर्मेटिशियनों को सलाम,
जो दूसरों की प्रेज़ेंटेशन के लिए रातों में जागते हैं—
तुम हो फ़िगर्स के भूत लेखक,
तुम हो बिना नाम के सह-लेखक।
तुम पहले लेखक बनने के हक़दार हो—
और एक लंबी नींद के भी।

Note: Written with the help of AI/LLM Tools !

SRF/JRF @ National Institute of Immunology

Wed, 30 Oct 2013 06:45:57 -0500

ADVERTISEMENT OF WALK-IN-INTERVIEW

NAME OF THE POST : SRF/JRF (Four Posts only)

DURATION : Indicated with the respective project mentioned below:

NAME OF THE PROJECT : As Mentioned below:

1. Serological diversity and molecular characterization of Dichelobector nodusus and development of vaccine against virulent footroot funded by NAIP. (Tenable upto 31.03.2014)

2. Development of oral vaccine against Clostridium perfringenes employing translational fusion of immunodominant epitopes of beta toxin with heat labile entertoxin B funded by DBT. (Tenable upto 25.02.2014)

3. Indo-Norwegian project, “Evaluation of major porins, ompC and ompR of Areomonas hydrophila as potential vaccine candidates and identification and characterization of immune genes of Indian major carp, Labeo rohita” (Tenable upto 31.03.2014)

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS: For JRF- M.Sc/M.Tech in any subject of Biological Sciences/Life Sciences

For SRF- M.Sc/M.Tech in any subject of Biological Sciences/Life Sciences with 2 years of Research Experience.

JOB DESCRIPTION : The Candidate should have experience in gene Expression, protein purification, molecular biology techniques and bioinformatics
EMOLUMENTS : SRF: Rs. 18,000/- per month consolidated plus 30% HRA if /NET/GATE qualified otherwise Rs. 14,000/- per month consolidated + 30% HRA.

JRF: Rs. 16,000/- per month consolidated + 30% HRA if NET/GATE qualified otherwise Rs. 12,000/- per month consolidated + 30% HRA

SCIENTIST NAME : Dr. Lalit C. Garg, SS-VII (Gene Regulation Lab)

SCIENTIST’S EMAIL : lalit@nii.ac.in

WALK IN INTERVIEW ON : October 31st, 2013

REGISTRATION OF CANDIDATES: 10.30 AM to 11.00 AM

Advertisement: http://www1.nii.res.in/sites/default/files/project-Dr.Lalit-31oct2013.pdf

Courses to Get You Started with Bioinformatics

LEGE — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 13:07:19 -0500

Bioinformatics is now at the heart of modern biology and medicine. From decoding genomes and predicting antimicrobial resistance, to developing personalized medicine and advancing evolutionary research, computational skills are no longer optional — they are essential.

Yet, for many students, biologists, and even computer scientists, the question is: “Where do I begin?” With so many platforms, books, and tutorials available, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.

To make it easier, I’ve compiled 10 excellent resources — ranging from beginner-friendly introductions to advanced computational genomics courses. Many of these are freely available, created by pioneers in the field, and widely used in classrooms and research labs worldwide.

Whether you are a complete beginner or looking to strengthen your foundations, these courses will help you build the skills needed to analyze biological data, design workflows, and think computationally about complex biological systems.

1. HarvardX Data Analysis for Genomics by Rafael Irizarry

From the almighty Rafa, this set of online courses (via edX/HarvardX) is a classic starting point for genomic data science and bioinformatics.

2. Applied Computational Genomics – Aaron Quinlan

Aaron Quinlan (creator of bedtools and many other tools) has made his course materials open. A practical, tool-driven genomics introduction.

3. Bioinformatics Algorithms (Coursera + Companion Book)

Find the highly visual video classes on Coursera, backed by the popular Bioinformatics Algorithms book.

4. The Biostar Handbook

Not a course per se, but a hands-on manual by Istvan (founder of Biostars.org) that’s even used in classes at Penn State.

5. Introduction to Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (by Shirley Liu)

A comprehensive introduction from Shirley Liu’s lab (Harvard DFCI). Covers both theory and computational practice.

6. Data Carpentry: Genomics Workshops

Community-driven training workshops that focus on practical, reproducible research. I was honored to serve as curriculum committee chair here.

7. Computational Genomics: Applied Comparative Genomics

From the Schatz Lab — applied comparative genomics with real-world data.

8. Introduction to Computational Biology (Mike Love, creator of DESeq2)

This course bridges statistics, biology, and computation — a solid primer for anyone entering computational biology.

9. MIT Computational Biology (6.047 / 6.878 / HST.507) by Manolis Kellis

Covers genomes, networks, evolution, and health. A deep-dive from MIT’s OpenCourseWare archive.

10. An Introduction to Applied Bioinformatics

An interactive textbook with Python code, designed for practical applied bioinformatics learning.

InCoB 2014

Thu, 07 Nov 2013 17:53:36 -0600

The 13th International Conference on Bioinformatics (InCoB 2014) will be held in Novotel Sydney Brighton Beach, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. This year, the InCoB will be held earlier from 31st July to 2nd August 2014 to run back-to-back with the International Biophysics Congress 2014 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Queensland (3-7 Aug).

More at http://incob2014.org/

List of Bioinformatics Vacancy, Jobs, Opportunity websites

Jitendra Narayan — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 20:04:28 -0600

Bioinformatics cover wide area of biology, and indulge in almost all sort of science related work. Bioinformatician give strong emphasis on open access to biological information as well as Free and Open Source software!!

There are several jobs opening in bioinformatics all around the world, but many of them do not get proper attention due to lack of advertisements, or social connectivity. This bookmark is created for an academic, non-academic, scientists and budding researchers to help and updates the bioinformatics/computational biology jobs links of all know websites around the world.

I also love to stream the live bioinformatics or Computational biology jobs updates using Twitter https://twitter.com/search?q=bioinformatics%20jobs&src=typd

Find out here about exciting job opportunities in the life sciences.

Please add well known bioinformatics jobs websites below in comment section.

Address of the bookmark: http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/jobs?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=bioinformatics&where=&commit=Find+Jobs

MATHomics Lab

Tue, 19 Nov 2013 18:17:32 -0600

Mathomics is a collaborative research group of the Center for Mathematical Modeling and the Center for Genome Regulation at University of Chile, created to play a central role in the development of biotechnological projects, providing state of the art bioinformatics and mathematical modeling tools, allowing to face these problems from the point of view of Systems Biology.

Lab page @ http://www.mathomics.cl/

Research Assistant @ University of Hyderabad

Mon, 25 Nov 2013 10:21:26 -0600

University of Hyderabad
Repository for Tomato Genomic Resources
Department of Plant Sciences
Bioinformatics Position in Tomato Functional Genomics

At the Repository for Tomato Genomics Resources, we are working on Tomato Functional Genomics, using TILLING, Insertional Mutagenesis, proteomics, metabolomics approaches to study fruit ripening in tomato. The current aims of the group include using reverse and forward genetics strategies to isolate tomato mutants delayed in ripening, having high lycopene and folate content in tomato fruits and analysis of light and hormonal signal transduction pathways. For recent publications of the group see (Plant Physiol 161: 2085–2101, Plant Physiol 156: 1424-1438; Molecular Plant 3: 854-869; Plant Methods 6: 3; Plant Methods 5:18; Plant Signaling and Behavior 5:11.).

Currently we have one position available in the projects awarded to Prof. R.P. Sharma funded by Dept of Biotechnology. The qualification for this Position is as follows:

Research Assistant: Applicants should have experience in networking using R language and should be able to develop networks using the transcriptome, proteome and metabolite data sets. M.Tech. in Bioinformatics is required. The selected candidate would be paid Rs. 13,000/-pm- consolidated.

Candidates interested in above positions should send a one page statement clearly explaining how their skills are relevant to the position. The candidates should also enclose detailed CV and the name/email id for three referees. The candidates can send their application by email at rameshwar.sharma@uohyd.ac.in and y.sreelakshmi@uohyd.ac.in on or before December 10th, 2013. The position is purely temporary in nature. Shortlisted candidates would be called for interview. No TA/DA would be provided for attending the interview. We also have openings for CSIR-NET JRF candidates for pursuing PhD in above research areas.

Interested candidates with CSIR-NET JRF can send their CV to the above email
addresses.

http://www.uohyd.ac.in/images/recruitment/tomanet_positions_221113.pdf

BOKU Lab

Wed, 08 Jan 2014 19:33:12 -0600

We are interested in the study of complex systems in living organisms. Novel views augmenting the classical gene by gene approaches are required to overcome the engineered redundancies and combinatorial effects prevalent in higher eukaryotes. We therefore combine work to establish improved quantitative experimental assays, such as microarrays or differential in-gel electrophoresis, and development of modern computational methods, such as hierarchical probabilistic models or integration of heterogeneous data sources, focussed by biological studies in our laboratory and collaborations.

Highlights of our research include:

Optimization of microarray design, probe signal interpretation
Advanced models and tools for expression profiling
State-of-the-art applications and integrated analyses

Lab page @ http://bioinf.boku.ac.at/

Rehmsmeier group

Sat, 09 Nov 2013 20:07:07 -0600

"Our research focuses on understanding development, gene regulation, and epigenetics on a genome-wide scale, in the context of evolution. This involves the design and application of algorithms, statistics, and experimental approaches."

http://www.bccs.uni.no/units/cbu/research/rehmsmeier/