An Autonomous National Institute under Government of India,
Ministry of Science & Technology
Department of Biotechnology

No: RGCB/ Advt./2014/1
January 24, 2014

Scientist Positions

Group Leader in Computational Biology/Bioinformatics
A highly motivated and innovative individual who will pursue basic research, solve biological problems with emphasis on computational and quantitative experimental methods and build active bridges to translational research. The scientist will also provide computational biology support to analyze complex data sets generated by RGCB scientists and collaborators.

Location: Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum)

The above positions will be at the E-II, F or equivalent levels. For senior applicants with an outstanding track record, an option of a contract career path for research excellence at Scientist G or H equivalent level can also be discussed. All positions will initially be for 5 years. Essential and desired qualifications as well as other relevant details for all the above positions are posted on the RGCB website (http://www.rgcb.res.in). The last date for receiving applications is March 14, 2014.

Sd/-
Director

Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology
Thycaud, P.O., Poojappura,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India-695 014
Ph.: 91-471-2529400 (30 Lines), 2347975, 2348104, 2348753, 2345899
Fax: 91-471-2348096, 2346333

More at http://rgcb.res.in/jobs.html

The C-DAC will launch Param Bio Blaze, a supercomputing facility, to address the challenges in bioinformatics on Tuesday at a three-day symposium, titled: 'Accelerating biology: Computing life'. The supercomputing facility will be inaugurated on Tuesday by Ramakrishna Ramaswamy, vice-chancellor, Central University of Hyderabad at the Yashada. The new C-DAC's facility will have a capacity of 10 teraflop and will be able to analyse human cells and its functions.

Param Bio Blaze will help have a larger storage space and better computing facility for the bioinformatics sector. The facility will help capture the movement of molecules and also interaction between two molecules and the effects.

Applications of Param BioBlaze

- Collaboration with National Centre for Cell Science for research on Malaria and understanding how the disease spreads

- Collaborative work with Tata Memorial hospital on breast cancer and find out the difference between normal tissues and tissues from breast cancer patients

- Designing anti-cancer molecules, a collaborative research with the University of Pune

Reference:

Times of India

Image:datacenterjournal.com

Install

pip install genomenotebook

How to use

Create a simple genome browser with a search bar. The sequence appears when zooming in.

import genomenotebook as gn

g=gn.GenomeBrowser(genome_path, gff_path, init_pos=10000)
g.show()

Tracks can be added to visualize your favorite genomics data. See Examples for more !!!!

Address of the bookmark: https://dbikard.github.io/genomenotebook/

However, the ancient invasions and migrations to slavery and trade, history is embroidered with events that led to interactions between previously separate populations. Early humans migrated due to many factors such as changing climate and landscape and inadequate food supply. Historical migration of human populations begins with the movement of Homo erectus out of Africa across Eurasia about a million years ago. Homo sapiens appear to have occupied all of Africa about 150,000 years ago, moved out of Africa 70,000 years ago, and had spread across Australia, Asia and Europe by 40,000 years BC. Indo-Aryan migration from the Indus Valley to the plain of the River Ganges in Northern India is presumed to have taken place in the Middle to Late Bronze Age, contemporary to the Late Harappan phase in India (ca. 1700 to 1300 BC). From 180 BC, a series of invasions from Central Asia followed, including those led by the Indo-Greeks, Indo-Scythians, Indo-Parthians and Kushans in the northwestern Indian subcontinent.

Using the recent advance technologies researchers have created a historical atlas of instances of such mixing. They use a sophisticated statistical method for making inferences about human history and infer populations interbredings ( happen over the past 4,000 years) with an ease.

The study published the findings and presented with an interactive map. http://admixturemap.paintmychromosomes.com/

These sort of genomic study have some limilation. It is hard to precisely define sources of mixing when it occurred between genetically similar groups, and scenarios involving multiple waves of mixing over time or between multiple groups can be difficult to tease apart. But it is believed that larger sample sizes will improve resolution. These high resolution will provide a deeper understanding of human history.

Reference:

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2014/01/28/science.1245938

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21390129?dopt=Abstract&holding=npg

http://www.csulb.edu/~kmacd/paper-ethnicity.html

Image: Wikipedia

Key Findings of the Study:

1. Alu Insertion and Tail Loss:
   The researchers discovered an Alu-mediated genetic change in a common ancestor of modern apes and humans. This change disrupted the normal function of a gene involved in tail development, leading to the suppression of tail formation.

2. Gene Disruption Mechanism:
   The Alu insertion was found within a regulatory region of the TBXT gene (also known as T or Brachyury), which is crucial for tail development in vertebrates. This insertion likely altered the gene's expression patterns, leading to tail reduction over evolutionary time.

3. Functional Evidence from Model Organisms:
   To test their hypothesis, the researchers introduced similar genetic modifications in mice. The modified mice exhibited shortened or absent tails, supporting the idea that the identified mutation played a role in tail loss in hominoids.

4. Evolutionary Implications:
   The findings suggest that small, random genomic changes—such as transposable element insertions—can have profound effects on body morphology. This study provides evidence that mobile DNA elements (like Alu) can drive major evolutionary transitions.

5. Relevance to Human Evolution:
   Understanding the genetic basis of tail loss helps in reconstructing the evolutionary history of hominins (the lineage that includes humans and our extinct relatives). It also sheds light on how genetic variations contribute to anatomical diversity among primates.

Significance of the Study:

This research highlights the role of transposable elements in shaping evolutionary traits and provides a concrete genetic explanation for a defining characteristic of humans and great apes. It also demonstrates how mutations in regulatory regions of developmental genes can lead to significant anatomical changes.

Candidate Requirements: A PhD in computer science, computational biology, Bioinformatics, or a related field, along with sufficient programming skills for prototyping. Experience with next generation sequencing data analysis is required. Candidates with MS degree but with relevant work experience can also be considered. The successful candidate must be motivated and capable of working independently as well as in team environment.

Eligible and interested candidates can email your resumes to rohit at strandls dot com

About Strand Life Sciences: Strand was founded in 2000 by computer science and mathematics professors who recognized the need to automate and integrate life science data analysis through an algorithmic and computational approach. Strand’s solutions for life sciences research are robust and easy to use by the most novice user while powerful and configurable for the bioinformatician. Using its award-winning application development platform, AVADIS®, Strand builds innovative products that enable fast and cutting-edge analysis for basic and clinical research, drug discovery and development.

http://www.avadis-ngs.com/careers

More at https://www.uibk.ac.at/limno/personnel/stelzer/index.html.en#research

1) Statistical machine learning methods for the analysis of medical
epigenomics data.

2) Sequence analysis algorithms for detection of RNA-DNA interactions.

Applicants should hold a M.Sc . or PhD in Computer Science or related
areas. Experience in the analysis of biological sequences, gene
expression and gene regulation is desirable. The candidate should have
solid programming skills (C, Python and/or R) and acquaintance with
Linux. Experience with high performance computing is a plus. The
working language of the group is English.

The position is based on the German TV-L 13 salary scale, including
all German social benefits (health insurance and pension scheme). The
expected starting date is September 2014. Interested candidates should
send a CV, statement of research interests and the names of three
references to jobs@costalab.org.

More at http://costalab.org/wp/phd-and-postdoc-position-in-computational-biology/

Reach out to careers@medgenome.com with your detailed profile.