Meeting: Working Group

Building non-model species genome curation communities


Date21-Jul-2014 ~ 25-Jul-2014
ProjectBuilding non-model species genome curation communities
SummaryThis working group proposal wishes to bring together software engineers and biologists that - instead of addressing a particular evolutionary question – are proposing to design and implement the software that is essential in evolutionary genomics so that questions can be asked in the first place. Evolutionary and ecological functional genomics (EFFG) is the study - with the aid of genomic technologies - of ecology and evolution of ‘non-model species’. With Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), the grand challenge in evolutionary genomic science is no longer the generation of data but deciphering them. The capability to convert sequence data to knowledge is, however, still locked in the discipline of bioinformatics because the data forms are not suitable for processing by research biologists. We have two solutions: 1) train domain experts in basic data processing informatics and 2) develop Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) to view and analyse EEFG data. We require a single platform that can facilitate mining, analysis and annotation of comparative data for genetics, ecology and genomics. It should be easy to setup and easier to use. It should be modular, with contributions from multiple labs. Because informaticians and software engineers are better at implementing rather than designing biological applications, this proposed working group will bring together i) professional curators; ii) informaticians and iii) comparative genomicists with the scope to a) form and implement a roadmap for teaching/importing biocuration practices into the field of comparative genomics b) delivering user-friendly software for the analysis and curation of data relevant to EEFG.