Handle sequence locations for bioinformatics http://www.ingolia-lab.org/seqloc-tutorial.html

Address of the bookmark: http://www.stackage.org/snapshot/nightly-2014-12-28/package/seqloc-0.6

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.

Website: www.actrec.gov.in; Ph: 27405000

No. ACTREC/Advt./ 66 /2014 23rd December, 2014
Research Associate

International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) - India Project (IRB Project No. 3 A/c. No. 2408)

Dr. Rajiv Sarin

Duration of the Project: One year Extendable up to Three years.

Consolidated Salary: Rs. 42,000/- p.m.

Application last date: 8th January, 2015.

Interview Date & Time: 21st January, 2015, at 11.00 a.m.

Venue: Conference Room, 3rd floor, Khanolkar Shodhika, ACTREC.

Essential Qualifications and Experience:

Ph.D (any branch of Life Sciences)

The candidate must have at least one year experience after Ph.D., preferably in Genomics and Molecular Biology.

Candidates fulfilling these requirements should pre register themselves by sending their application in the prescribed format with recent CV and contact details of 2 referees by e-mail to icgc@actrec.gov.in latest 8th January, 2015 by 10.00 a.m.

Candidates shortlisted for the interview will be intimated by email on or before 9th January, 2015.

The interviews would be held on 21st January 2015 and will be only for the pre registered candidates who have been shortlisted.
No T.A./D.A. will be admissible for attending the interview.

At the time of Interview the candidate should bring original certificates along with CV with contact details of 2 referees and submit the photocopies (attested) of the certificates, with a recent passport size photograph.

Advertisement: www.actrec.gov.in/data%20files/2014/Walk-in-Research-Fellow-26-12-14.doc

For example ... contig-stats.pl is a Perl script that will automatically describe features of a sequence assembly.

http://milkweedgenome.org/?q=scripts

Address of the bookmark: http://milkweedgenome.org/?q=scripts

http://www.tau.ac.il/~itaymay/cp/chromEvol/about.html

Address of the bookmark: http://www.tau.ac.il/~itaymay/cp/chromEvol/downloads.html

a) bioinformatics, systems and computational biology
b) malaria
c) drug discovery
d) genomics
e) microbiology
f) metabolic disorders
g) molecular medicine

Eligibility: Applicants must have one of the following :

1) INSPIRE award for undertakig either PhD or Postdoctoral research;
2) SPM award for PhD;
3) JRF for pursuing PhD from CSIR/DBT/ICMR

Interest and experience in Biochemistry/Bioinformatics/Biophysics/ Chemistry/Genomics/Molecular Biology/ is essential.

Submit curriculum vitae to sb.icgeb@gmail.com by 20 February 2015

Name of the post: Senior Research Fellow (SRF)
Duration: 2 year
Salary: Rs. 28000/- per month + 30% HRA
Eligibility: MSc (life sciences) with 2 years research experience, NET/GATE qualified
Desirable: Experience in the field of Genomics, Epigenomics & Bioinformatics
SELECTION PROCEDURE FOR ALL INDIA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES (AIIMS DELHI) – SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW POST:

Candidates can apply on or before 15/03/2015
No Detailed information about the selection process is mentioned in the recruitment notification
HOW TO APPLY FOR SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW VACANCY IN ALL INDIA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES (AIIMS DELHI):

Deadline: 15.03.15 Submit your C.V in Room No. 2099 (Molecular Cytogenetics Lab), 2nd floor, Reproductive Biology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi-110029 or Email CV to: ashutoshhalder@gmail.com Your CV should include the details of your work experience & degrees along with two references with e-mail and contact number Only 10 shortlisted (on merit) candidates will be invited for interview. No TA/DA will be applicable for the same

a) bioinformatics, systems and computational biology
b) malaria
c) drug discovery
d) genomics
e) microbiology
f) metabolic disorders
g) molecular medicine

Eligibility: Applicants must have one of the following :

1) INSPIRE award for undertakig either PhD or Postdoctoral research;
2) SPM award for PhD;
3) JRF for pursuing PhD from CSIR/DBT/ICMR

Interest and experience in Biochemistry/Bioinformatics/Biophysics/ Chemistry/Genomics/Molecular Biology/ is essential.

Submit curriculum vitae to sb.icgeb@gmail.com by 20 February 2015

Bioinformatics Centre (DIC) invites applications for the following posts:

Job Number: 01
Job Designation: Junior Research Fellow (JRF)
Number of Vacancy: 02 (Two)
Educational Qualification:
M.Tech/M.Sc. in Life Sciences/Botany/Zoology/Biochemistry/Biotechnology/Bioinformatics.
Desirable Qualification:
Aptitude for Bioinformatics and Computer Programming/Next generation sequencing data analysis.

Job Number: 02
Job Designation: Project Assistant
Number of Vacancy: 01 (One)
Educational Qualification:
Graduation in Science.
Desirable Qualification:
Experience of working in a Life Science/Plant Biotechnology Lab.

Place of Work: Shillong

How To Apply For Opening:
The applications through email bicnehu@gmail.com or post must reach the undersigned within 15 days from the date of publication of this advertisement.

Last Date To Apply: 15th February,2015

Contact Address: Bioinformatics Centre (DIC),Shillong-793022

Advertisement Details: Employment News (31 January – 6 February) Page 28