BOL: Related items

Bioinformatician stuck in wet-lab

Rahul Agarwal — Tue, 06 May 2014 12:46:56 -0500

This guide is aimed at pet bioinformaticians, and is meant to guide them towards better career development.

1. Make friends with local bioinformatics groups
2. Talk to your computing group
3. Obtain clear expectations
4. Rewrite your job description
5. Papers
6. Attend bioinformatics meetings
7. Try first, ask later

Address of the bookmark: http://biomickwatson.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/a-guide-for-the-lonely-bioinformatician/

Bioinformatics: The Bridge Between Curiosity and Discovery

BioStar — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 05:16:49 -0600

In the sprawling universe of modern science, bioinformatics stands as one of the most transformative and empowering fields of our time. It is where biology meets computation, where data becomes meaning, and where curiosity becomes discovery. If you’ve stepped into this world—or are considering it—here’s your reminder: you’re part of a revolution.

Why Bioinformatics Matters More Than Ever

Every day, our world generates massive amounts of biological data—from genome sequences to microbiome profiles to real-time pathogen surveillance. Hidden within these datasets are the answers to some of the greatest challenges humanity faces: emerging diseases, antimicrobial resistance, environmental stress, genetic disorders, sustainable agriculture, and more.

Bioinformatics isn’t just a skill.
It’s the language of the future of biology.

By mastering it, you give yourself the power to:

Decode genomes and understand life at its most fundamental level

Identify patterns no microscope could ever reveal

Predict disease outbreaks before they occur

Accelerate drug discovery with computational precision

Contribute to open-source tools that empower scientists worldwide

You don’t just follow science—you drive it.

Every Expert Was Once a Beginner

Many newcomers feel intimidated. Command-line interfaces. R scripts. Python packages. Next-generation sequencing data. Complex machine learning models.

But here’s the truth: every bioinformatician started exactly where you are now—curious, unsure, but excited.

No one writes perfect code on day one.

No one understands genomics pipelines immediately.

What makes you a bioinformatician is not perfection, but perseverance.

When your script throws a cryptic error…
When your data refuses to format…
When your pipeline runs for 6 hours only to crash…

Remember: this is part of the journey.
Every error teaches you. Every retry strengthens you. Every breakthrough energizes you.

Bioinformatics Is Not Just a Career—It’s a Mindset

It’s the mindset of:

Problem-solving.

Continuous learning.

Turning chaos into clarity.

Seeing what others can’t.

Bioinformaticians are detectives of biological complexity. You sit at the intersection of innovation, using tools that can shape public health, medicine, agriculture, and ecology. Few fields give you such direct impact on the world.

Your Contribution Matters

As you work on your script, pipeline, genome, or model, remember:

Somewhere, your analysis might contribute to:

A new therapy

A faster diagnostic test

A better understanding of a pathogen

A more resilient crop

An open-source dataset that helps thousands

A discovery that rewrites textbooks

Your code may be small, but its ripple effect is powerful.

The Future Is Bioinformatics—And You Are Part of It

The world is shifting. Wet labs are integrating AI. Hospitals rely on genomic insights. Farmers use gene-level predictions. Governments monitor disease in real time. Students launch pipelines that become global tools.

This is a golden era—and you are not late.
You are exactly where you need to be.

Keep Pushing. Keep Learning. Keep Discovering.

Bioinformatics is a journey filled with challenges, but also with unmatched rewards.

So the next time you feel stuck, frustrated, or overwhelmed, remember:
You’re building the science of tomorrow.

Be proud. Stay curious. Keep going.
Your work matters more than you think.

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Tutorials

Jitendra Narayan — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 06:01:37 -0500

Institute of computational biomedicine, Cornell University provide an NGS workshop tutorial at http://chagall.med.cornell.edu/NGScourse/

You can also add your favourite NGS educational material, or workshop tutorial by commenting on this bookmarks for user benefit.

Understanding the basics of genome sequencing:

Tutorial by Luke Jostins.

http://www.genetic-inference.co.uk/blog/2009/04/basics-sequencing-dna-part-1/

http://www.genetic-inference.co.uk/blog/2009/08/basics-sequencing-dna-part-2/

A window into third-generation sequencing

http://hmg.oxfordjournals.org/content/19/R2/R227.full.pdf

==============================================

NGS data analysis pipelines

Detecting and annotating genetic variations using the HugeSeq pipeline DOI: 10.1038/nbt.2134
NARWHAL, a primary analysis pipeline for NGS data http://bioinformatics.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/28/2/284?etoc
RseqFlow: Workflows for RNA-Seq data analysis DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btr441
ngs_backbone: a pipeline for read cleaning, mapping and SNP calling using Next Generation Sequence 10.1186/1471-2164-12-285
A framework for variation discovery and genotyping using next-generation DNA sequencing data PubMed: 21478889
SNiPlay: a web-based tool for detection, management and analysis of SNPs. Application to grapevine diversity projects DOI: 10.1186/1471-2105-12-134 Abstract: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2105/12/134/abstract
WEP: a high-performance analysis pipeline for whole-exome data http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2105/14/S7/S11
DDBJ read annotation pipeline: a cloud computing-based pipeline for high-throughput analysis of next-generation sequencing data. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23657089
GATK: a Toolkit for Genome Analysis http://www.broadinstitute.org/gatk/
Metagenomics:http://www.nbic.nl/education/nbic-phd-school/course-schedule/ngsmetagenomics/
RNASeq:http://www.nbic.nl/education/nbic-phd-school/course-schedule/ngsrnaseq/
Bioinformatics and Seq courses: http://www.isb-sib.ch/training/training-activities-schedule/archive-2013.html
Variant Detection (Model organism) Advanced tutorial https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1CuKkKylVDb03tnN7RSWl5EUzleetn0ctjmvaidPKLxM
Variant Detection Introductory tutorial https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1ZRzrjjOCvtAu3m-IKL-rbJ1f4On60dDL_IEwG7oejdI
Microbial de novo Assembly for Illumina Data Introductory tutorial https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1N3AB9ptISUu4zULqe1kXpVF0BDyGb5f5yzxWSJd_WNM
RNAseq Differential Gene Expression Introductory tutorial https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1KbTiBHtvHLfPRZ39AY3uriazrINA8TJzgjjwn1zPP7Y

" Please add your favourite NGS link below in comment section for the benefit of bioinformatics community ".

Address of the bookmark: http://chagall.med.cornell.edu/NGScourse/

Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab)-Sweden

Sat, 10 May 2014 06:22:30 -0500

Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab) is a national center for molecular biosciences with focus on health and environmental research. The center combines frontline technical expertise with advanced knowledge of translational medicine and molecular bioscience. SciLifeLab is a national resource and a collaboration between four universities: Karolinska Institutet, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University and Uppsala University.

Webpage : https://www.scilifelab.se/about-us/
Opportunity: https://www.scilifelab.se/about-us/career/

Scaffolding of a bacterial genome using MinION nanopore sequencing

Rahul Agarwal — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 16:59:25 -0500

Second generation sequencing has revolutionized genomic studies. However, most genomes contain repeated DNA elements that are longer than the read lengths achievable with typical sequencers, so the genomic order of several generated contigs cannot be easily resolved. A new generation of sequencers offering substantially longer reads is emerging, notably the Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) RS II system and the MinION system, released in early 2014 by Oxford Nanopore Technologies through an early access program.

Address of the bookmark: http://www.nature.com/srep/2015/150707/srep11996/full/srep11996.html

Live Webinar on RNA-Seq Data Analysis on 9 Nov 2016

Strand — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 05:25:27 -0500

Live Webinar on RNA-Seq Data Analysis

Abstract: Strand NGS supports an extensive workflow for the analysis and visualization of RNA-Seq data. The workflow includes Transcriptome / Genome alignment, Differential expression analysis with Statistical approach and Splicing events detection. Strand NGS also supports novel discovery like identification of novel genes, exons and Novel splice junctions, alongside it can also detect gene fusion events. Further downstream analysis such as GO and pathway analysis can be performed on the set of interesting genes. The product has an option to create pipelines for time consuming jobs which automates analysis and leaves more time for end data interpretation. This webinar will give an overview of the features in the RNA-Seq data analysis workflow in Strand NGS and also highlights on parameters within each feature that can be optimized depending on datasets and analysis needs.

Speaker: Mr. Sugandan Sivamani, Senior Application Scientist, Strand Life Sciences

Date: 9th Nov, Session 1 for SAPK/ APFO: 2:30 PM IST Date: 9th Nov, Session 2 for AFO/ EMEA: 9:00 AM PST

Professor/Associate Professor/ Assistant Professor at Chettinad Academy of Research and Education

Sat, 24 May 2014 00:00:15 -0500

OPEN FACULTY POSITION

Chettinad Academy of Research and Education (CARE) invites applications from eligible and translational research-oriented candidates to the posts of Professor/Associate Professor/ Assistant Professor Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, and Pharmaceutical Chemistry.

Emoluments: As per UGC norms (Adequate Compensation for Postdoctoral/Teaching experience)

Candidates fulfilling the eligibility criteria as per the UGC norms can send their full CV with copies of certificates and reference letters to the following address by post or by e-mail on or before 31st May 2014

The Registrar,
Chettinad Academy of Research and Education,
Chettinad Health City
Kelambakkam, Chennai 603 103
Tamil Nadu
T +91 (0)44 4741 1000
F +91 (0)44 4741 1011
Email: jobs @chettinadhealthcity.com

Advertisement: http://182.73.176.163/chc/ads2014.pdf

Quick next generation sequencing (NGS) terms definition

Neel — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 04:52:26 -0500

fragment size: the Illumina WGS protocol generates paired-end reads from both ends of longer fragments. The lengths of these fragments are assumed to be sampled from a normal distribution. Therefore, in the absence of structural variants, mapping locations of the paired ends span within an interval [δmin,δmax]. Most (>90%) of paired-end reads are sampled from no-SV regions, therefore the fragment size distribution can be learned empirically for each WGS data set separately.

concordant reads: a read pair is called concordant if they can be mapped to the reference genome as “expected”: (a) mapped to opposing strands where the upstream read is mapped to the forward strand and the downstream read is mapped to the reverse strand2, (b) the distance between ends is between the minimum and maximum expected fragment size.

discordant reads: briefly, any non-concordant read pair is considered discordant. Note that, by definition, the discordant read pairs signal potential SVs. The sequence signature produced by these type of reads is known as read-pair signature.

split reads: a read that can only be mapped to the reference genome by breaking into two sub-reads is called a split-read. These types of reads also indicate a potential SV or a short insertion or deletion (indel).

read depth: number of reads that map within a region of the genome. Overall genome-wide read depth is also referred to as depth of coverage. It is expected that the number of reads that “cover” each base-pair to follow a Poisson distribution. Therefore, if the read depth over a certain region deviates significantly from this distribution, it signals for a potential copy number variation (CNV).

The Minerva Research Group for Bioinformatics

Tue, 27 May 2014 15:48:14 -0500

The focus of the bioinformatics group is to use computational approaches to gain an insight into genome evolution in primates.

http://www.eva.mpg.de/genetics/bioinformatics/overview.html?Fsize=0%2C%20%40%2F%27

Kelso Group
Department of Evolutionary Genetics
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
Germany
Phone: +49 341 3550 500

Job:
http://www.eva.mpg.de/genetics/bioinformatics/jobs.html?Fsize=0%2C%2B%40

MeDuSa: a multi-draft based scaffolder

Abhimanyu Singh — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 02:49:00 -0600

MeDuSa (Multi-Draft based Scaffolder), an algorithm for genome scaffolding. MeDuSa exploits information obtained from a set of (draft or closed) genomes from related organisms to determine the correct order and orientation of the contigs. MeDuSa formalises the scaffolding problem by means of a combinatorial optimisation formulation on graphs and implements an efficient constant factor approximation algorithm to solve it. In contrast to currently used scaffolders, it does not require either prior knowledge on the microrganisms dataset under analysis (e.g. their phylogenetic relationships) or the availability of paired end read libraries.

Address of the bookmark: https://github.com/combogenomics/medusa