1. Remuneration : Rs. 12000/- per month (consolidated)

2. Qualification : M.Sc./M.Tech. Bioinformatics (preference will be given to the candidates with BINC / NET / GATE / Bioinformatics DBT-Traineeship / Studentship and teaching experience)

3. Place of work : Department of Bioinformatics, SVIMS, Tirupati

4. No. of Position : One

Terms and conditions:

1. Candidates are required to submit the Biodata, attested copies of relevant certificates in support of their age, educational qualification, experience etc., before the interview committee, SVIMS University, Tirupati.
2. No TA / DA will be paid for attending the interview.
3. Interim enquiries will not be entertained.
4. The maximum age limit for Teaching Assistant is 34 years as on 8th August, 2015.
5. The tenure of will be further extended subject to performance of the incumbent.

Advertisement: http://svimsbic.org/Teaching_Assistant_B.I._2015.pdf

MitoHiFi was first developed to assemble the mitogenomes for a wide range of species in the Darwin Tree of Life Project (DToL)

https://bmcbioinformatics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12859-023-05385-y 

Address of the bookmark: https://github.com/marcelauliano/MitoHiFi

Pondicherry University Puducherry has been identified as a nodal agency by the Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India to coordinate this examination along with nine centres namely, Pune University, Pune; Anna University, Chennai; Calcatta University (WBUT) Kolkata; Institute of Bioinformatics & Applied Biotechnology, Bangalore; North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad; University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram; Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and Assam Agricultural University, Guwahati.

In the BINC 2013 examination,17 candidates were certified. DBT has agreed to fund Research fellowships for all the BINC qualified Indian nationals to pursue Ph.D. in Indian Institutes/Universities. Note that the candidate must possess a postgraduate degree(or equivalent) & meet the criteria of the institutes/universities in order to avail research fellowship. In addition, cash prize of Rs. 10,000/- will be awarded to the top 10 BINC qualifiers.

More at http://210.212.230.224:9999/BINC/

Address of the bookmark: http://www.genome.umd.edu/

Applications with complete bio-data from candidates possessing the required qualifications are invited for the posts of JRF (2) and Project Assistant (1) in

DBT, GOI-funded research project “Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)- based de novo assembly of expressed transcripts and genome information of Orchids in North-East India” in DBT’s Twinning programme for NE as per DBT sanction order and norms.

(i) JRF(2 nos.):

Qualifications: M.Tech/M.Sc in Life Sciences/ Botany/ Zoology/Biochemistry/ Biotechnology/ Bioinformatics; Desirable: Aptitude for Bioinformatics and Computer Programming/ Next generation sequencing data analysis

(ii) Project Assistant (1 no.):

Qualifications: Graduation in Science, Desirable: Experience of working in a Life Science/Plant Biotechnology lab. and familiarity with computers and field work viz. collection of samples.

The applications through email bicnehu@gmail.com or post must reach the undersigned
within 15 days from the date of publication of this advertisement. The advertised posts are purely temporary for the duration of the project and subject to availability of the funds from DBT. The appointment does not confer any entitlement or right over the posts for absorption in the University service.

Advertisement: www.nehu.ac.in/Advertisements/BICAdvtPV_200115.pdf

Before you go down that path, consider this critical biological question:
Are you sequencing human cells—or bacterial contamination?

The Silent Saboteur: Mycoplasma in Cell Cultures

Mycoplasma contamination remains one of the most widespread and underdiagnosed issues in tissue culture work. Studies suggest that 15–35% of cell lines in use may be contaminated, often without visible signs. Unlike other microbial infections, Mycoplasma does not produce cloudiness, odor, or a change in pH. Many researchers won’t detect it unless they specifically test for it.

The consequences, however, are profound. Mycoplasma can significantly alter:

• Host gene expression patterns

• Cell proliferation rates

• Epigenetic profiles and chromatin accessibility

• Cytokine signaling and immune responses

In short, it can skew your results, compromise your biological conclusions, and invalidate weeks or months of research.

A Simple Diagnostic Step: Map Against Mycoplasma Genomes

If you encounter poor alignment rates to the human genome, consider mapping your reads to a Mycoplasma reference genome—or better yet, use a combined human + Mycoplasma reference. There have been cases where over half of all reads, initially assumed to be from human cells, were in fact bacterial in origin. This check is fast, easy, and could save your project.

How Contamination Happens—and Persists

Mycoplasma is small (0.1–0.3 μm), lacks a cell wall, and can pass through standard filters undetected. Common sources include:

• Contaminated reagents (e.g., FBS)

• Infected cell lines obtained from other labs

• Poor aseptic technique or shared equipment

Once present, it spreads quickly between cultures and can persist for months, silently affecting results.

Why Treatment Is Difficult

While antibiotics such as Plasmocin or BM-Cyclin are sometimes used, they often offer only partial resolution and may themselves alter cell behavior. In many cases, the best course of action is to discard the contaminated culture and start with a fresh, verified stock.

Practical Recommendations for Researchers

• Routinely test for Mycoplasma using PCR, qPCR, or fluorescence-based assays

• Incorporate contamination screens into your sequencing QC pipeline

• Use combined reference genomes when mapping ambiguous reads

• Practice strict aseptic technique and monitor all incoming cell lines

• Don’t ignore unexplained data anomalies—they might point to contamination

Closing Thought: Contamination Is a Biological Variable

It’s easy to view poor mapping as a technical issue, but sometimes the problem lies deeper—in the biology itself. Mycoplasma contamination doesn’t just interfere with sequencing; it interferes with science. As a research community, we must treat contamination not as an afterthought, but as a key variable to control.

So next time your reads won’t align, don’t just tune the aligner. Ask if your cells are telling the truth—or if they're hiding something.

Organiser: Christine Carrington (University of the West Indies - UWI, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago)
Co-organisers: Anne-Mieke Vandamme, Philippe Lemey (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium), Marco Salemi, Mattia Prosperi (University of Florida, Gainesville, USA) and Karen E. Nelson (J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, USA)

Requests for information directly to:
Christine Carrington
Department of Preclinical Sciences
Faculty of Medical Sciences
University of the West Indies (UWI)
St. Augustine
Trinidad and Tobago
Telephone: +1-868-6452640 ext. 5009, +1-868-6848803
Fax: +1-868-6621873
E-mail: veme2015@sta.uwi.edu

Deadline for receipt of applications by local organiser: 15 March 2015
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN
http://www.icgeb.org/course-application-trinidad-and-tobago-2015.html

http://rega.kuleuven.be/cev/veme-workshop/2015

Source: Life technologies

Address of the bookmark: http://www.lifetechnologies.com/global/en/home/communities-social/blog/blogs/sequencing-solutions-to-world-health.html?cid=social_blogseries_20130829_11098264