BOL: Related items

Orione – a web-based framework for NGS analysis in microbiology

Martin Jones — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 06:43:03 -0500

End-to-end NGS microbiology data analysis requires a diversity of tools covering bacterial resequencing, de novo assembly, scaffolding, bacterial RNA-Seq, gene annotation and metagenomics. However, the construction of computational pipelines that use different software packages is difficult due to a lack of interoperability, reproducibility, and transparency. To overcome these limitations researchers at CRS4, Italy have developed Orione, a Galaxy-based framework consisting of publicly available research software and specifically designed pipelines to build complex, reproducible workflows for NGS microbiology data analysis. Enabling microbiology researchers to conduct their own custom analysis and data manipulation without software installation or programming, Orione provides new opportunities for data-intensive computational analyses in microbiology and metagenomics.

Reference

Cuccuru G1, Orsini M, Pinna A, Sbardellati A, Soranzo N, Travaglione A, Uva P, Zanetti G, Fotia G. (2014) Orione, a web-based framework for NGS analysis in microbiology. Bioinformatics [Epub ahead of print]. [article]

Address of the bookmark: http://orione.crs4.it/

Manthey Research Group – Evolutionary Genomics

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 06:25:55 -0500

We focus on fundamental questions in genomics, ecology, and evolution. Our methods include fieldwork and labwork, but most of our time is spent analyzing genomics data using computational biology approaches.

Ant / bacteria co-evolution, landscape genomics, and population genomics
Vertebrate and/or invertebrate genome evolution

If you might be interested in joining our research group, send an email with your intent and why this group would potentially be a good fit for your future goals along with a CV / Resume to jdmanthey (at) gmail (dot) com

More at https://mantheylab.org/

Breaking chromosomes to study cancer !!!

Jit — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 05:42:09 -0500

Chromosomes are present in every cell of our body and they contain the information the body needs to develop and function properly. This information is carried in genes that are arranged along the chromosomes. There are usually 46 chromosomes in every cell. These chromosomes come in pairs, one from our mother and one from our father. The chromosomes can be sorted into 23 pairs by looking at them down a microscope.

Most people who have a balanced translocation have the right amount of chromosome material but it has been rearranged in some way. This may happen if two chromosomes swap pieces (a reciprocal translocation). In other cases two whole chromosomes may become stuck together (a Robertsonian translocation). This page describes what happens when someone has a reciprocal translocation.

Reciprocal chromosomal translocations occur following double-strand breaks (DSBs) in DNA when a section of one chromosome is exchanged with that of another, non-homologous chromosome. These exchanges may produce a dysfunctional fusion gene that disrupts cell growth and survival pathways, such as the translocations seen in leukemia and childhood sarcomas.

Chromosomal translocations have been well studied in cancer cell lines which are associated with two types of cancer, acute myeloid leukemia and Ewing's sarcoma, but determining how they contribute to cancer development is complicated by additional mutations and altered gene expression profiles in these cultured cells. Now, Juan Carlos Ramirez, head of the Viral Vector Facility at the Fundacion Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) and his colleagues Raul Torres at CNIC and Sandra Rodriguez-Peralez at the Spanish National Cancer Center (CNIO) in Madrid, Spain have used a new genome editing tool, CRISPR-Cas9, to induce chromosomal translocations for the first time in a human cell line and in primary cells. The study's authors conclude by stating that the use of this technology will allow for the clarification of how and why chromosomal translocation occurs, which without doubt will allow new anti-cancer therapeutic strategies to be tackled.

Using RNA-Guided Endonuclease (RGEN) technology or CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering technology, CNIO and CNIC researchers have shown that it is possible to obtain such chromosomal translocations. The CRISPR-Cas9 system is extremely simple to introduce a cut at the desired locus, easier to design, and cheaper than many other systems. Using the CRISPR-Cas9 system, Ramirez and his colleagues reproduced the translocations observed in Ewing’s Sarcoma (ES) and Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) patient cell lines in HEK293 cells and also generated the ES translocation in human mesenchymal stem cells and the AML translocation in umbilical cord blood cells.

By focusing on chromosomal translocation without the confounding characteristics of established cell lines, these new cells lines should help answer the fundamental question of what causes a cell to become cancerous. Ramirez and his team now look forward to modeling other chromosome translocations in a variety of cell types.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromosomal_translocation

http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140603/ncomms4964/abs/ncomms4964.html

BioCoder : newsletter of that revolution. It’s about biology as it moves from research labs into startup incubators, hacker spaces, and even homes

Jit — Sun, 02 Feb 2020 07:43:52 -0600

BioCoder features:

Novel therapeutic discovery strategies
Hardware such as low-cost lab equipment or diagnostics
Open or low-cost bioinformatics tools
Engineered organisms for the production of small molecules, biologics, or other products
Research projects at a community labspace or projects for science education or public engagement
Hardware or software for lab automation
Citizen science or DIY research projects
Science policy
Tools to increase reproducibility in research, or anything related

Address of the bookmark: https://www.oreilly.com/biocoder/

RA at IISER Kolkata Computational Biology/Bioinformatics

Wed, 23 Jul 2014 06:24:28 -0500

Applications are invited from suitable candidates for research associate (post-doc; Rs. 22000-32000)/research fellow (16000-18000)/project assistant (Rs. 10000-14000) positions in the Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute for Science Education and Research Kolkata in the extramural project. Condition to satisfactory performance, the positions is for a period of upto 2 years (or funding of the project).

Brief description: We are looking for suitable candidates in the area o computational biology/bioinformatics/genomics or related field for next-generation sequencing (NGS) data analysis for small-RNAs, RNA-Seq and targeted resequencing of plants and associated organisms. We are an interdisciplinary group where projects equally involve bioinformatics and systems biology (specially microarrays and next-generation sequencing (NGS) data analysis and its use), along with plant molecular biology, genetic engineering, field biology, and analytical plant chemistry for understanding response of plants to biotic stresses.

Essential qualification: MSc/BTech/MTech/PhD (or other suitable qualification) in disciplines preferable to bioinformatics, computational biology, computer application (or equivalent)/ ‘Advance Post-Graduate Diploma in Bioinformatics’. Proficiency in programming languages (such as Perl, C++) and/or statistics (proficient in R for example) is compulsory.

Desirable qualification: Experience in the field of genomics e.g. microarray analysis, NGS, genome annotation, database development and management, software development, systems and network biology (or related fields) will be preferred.

Application process: Applications should contain CV along with brief description (maximum 1 page) of research conducted (highlighting skills and experience) till now. Applications should be sent by e-mail to Shree Prakash Pandey, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur Campus, WB, India within 14 days of this advertisement.

E-mail: sppiiserkol@gmail.com, sppandey@iiserkol.ac.in

http://www.iiserkol.ac.in/announcements/adverts/671-advt_ra_shree_prakash_july_2014

Research Rabbit

LEGE — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 12:01:33 -0500

You’re determined students, passionate teachers, and inspired creators of everything we know! Yet, all the researchers we spoke with over the past year uncovered the same reality:

Despite the degrees you’ve earned, the effort and passion you put in every day, the sacrifices you make – academia burdens you with tons of stressors. Financial, psychological, physical, and more.

We’re an unconventional team with backgrounds in various fields – both inside and outside of academia. And through our lens, it’s clear that academia deeply undervalues and underserves its very own community!

It’s time to reimagine research.

Address of the bookmark: https://researchrabbitapp.com/

You and your friend have similar DNA !!!

Jit — Sun, 27 Jul 2014 20:44:05 -0500

New research out of Massachusetts claims that people often choose friends that are similar to them in genetics and they are more accurate than you might suppose. A study published on PNAS http://www.pnas.org/content/111/Supplement_3/10796.full found that people are apt to pick friends who are genetically similar to themselves - so much so that friends tend to be as alike at the genetic level as a person's fourth cousin.

Scientists with a long-running Framingham Heart Study looked at 1,932 people (examination of about 1.5 million markers of genetic variations), comparing unrelated friends to unrelated strangers. They found that friends shared about 1% of their genes — a percentage much higher than those shared with strangers.This new findings made it clear that people have more DNA in common with those who are selected as friends than with strangers in the same population.

The genes that lined up the most were olfactory genes, which deal with smell. The ones that lined up the least were immune system genes. The researchers weren't sure why that happened :/. Olfactory genes might be a straightforward explanation: People who like the same smells tend to be drawn to similar environments, where they meet others with the same tendencies.

Reference:

http://www.pnas.org/content/111/Supplement_3/10796.full

Image : http://i.kinja-img.com

d3Network:Tools for creating D3 JavaScript network, tree, dendrogram, and Sankey graphs from R.

Jit — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 12:10:45 -0500

Mike Bostock’s D3.js is great for creating interactive network graphs with JavaScript. The d3Network package makes it easy to create these network graphs from R. The main idea is that you should able to take an R data frame with information about the relationships between members of a network and create full network graphs with one command.

Address of the bookmark: http://christophergandrud.github.io/d3Network/

Tools for Protein-Protein Docking !

Poonam Mahapatra — Wed, 25 Apr 2018 05:15:53 -0500

Predicting the structure of protein–protein complexes using docking approaches is a difficult problem whose major challenges include identifying correct solutions, and properly dealing with molecular flexibility and conformational changes. Following are the tools to predict the structure of protein–protein complexes:

3D-Dock Suite

Global rigid search: FFTShape complementarity and electrostatics

Re-scoring and clustering. Refinement of interface side-chains

3D-Garden

Global rigid search in ensamble

Shape complementarity and Lennard–Jones potential

Side chain and backbone dihedral refinement

DOT

Global rigid search: FFTShape complementarity, electrostatics and VDWNone

Escher NG

Global rigid searchShape complementarity, hydrogen bonds and electrostatic

Integrated in VEGA

GRAMM

Global rigid search: FFT. smooth protein surface representation for soft docking

Shape complementarity and Lennard-Jones potential

Clustering of conformations

GRAMM-X

Global rigid search: FFT. smooth protein surface representation for soft docking

Shape complementarity and Lennard-Jones potentialminimization and re-scoring with multiple filters

HEX

Global rigid search: Fourier correlation of spherical harmonics

Shape complementarity

HADDOCK

Global rigid searchElectrostatic ,VDW and desolvation energy termsMD simulated annealing refinement . Filtering based on external data.

ICM

Global rigid search: Monte CarloEmpirical scoring function

Clustering and selection of conformations. Refinement of interface side-chains and re-scoring

MolFit

Global rigid search: FFTShape complementarity

Clustering of good solutions, filtering using a priori information and small, local rigid rotations around selected conformations

PatchDock

Global rigid searchShape complementarity and atomic desolvation energy

Clustering of conformations

PyDock

Global rigid search:FFTShape complementarity

rescoring by binding electrostatics and desolvation energy

RosettaDock

Local rigid search: Monte Carlo with low and high resolution structure representation levels

Different scoring parameters for the different resolutions

ZDOCK

Global rigid search: FFTShape complementarity, desolvation energy, and electrostatics.

Energy minimization and re-scoringFree for academics

Point to note:

The proper treatment of flexibility in protein–protein docking is still an active field of research. You first should analyzed your proteins in order to define their conformational space and then choose the most suitable method for your docking problem.

Swabs to Genomes: A Comprehensive Workflow

Rahul Nayak — Sun, 10 Aug 2014 03:01:21 -0500

The sequencing, assembly, and basic analysis of microbial genomes, once a painstaking and expensive undertaking, has become almost trivial for research labs with access to standard molecular biology and computational tools. However, there are a wide variety of options available for DNA library preparation and sequencing, and inexperience with bioinformatics can pose a significant barrier to entry for many who may be interested in microbial genomics. The objective of the present study was to design, test, troubleshoot, and publish a simple, comprehensive workflow from the collection of an environmental sample (a swab) to a published microbial genome; empowering even a lab or classroom with limited resources and bioinformatics experience to perform it.

Address of the bookmark: https://peerj.com/preprints/453.pdf