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European bioinformatics grid receives 8 million Euro
Submitted by Erik Bongcam-Rudloff; posted on Thursday, February 3, 2005 (1 comment)
The Commission of the European Union has awarded 8.3 million Euro to a pan-European task force who will improve access to biological information for scientists throughout and beyond Europe. The EMBRACE Network of Excellence, which encompasses computational biologists from 17 institutes in 11 countries and is coordinated by the European Bioinformatics Institute's Associate Director Graham Cameron, will use these funds to simplify and standardize the way in which biological information is served to the researchers who use it.
Scientists now depend on databases to access the avalanche of information that they produce. For example, geneticists are trawling through the human genome for genes that are involved in diseases. Data providers put a huge amount of effort into providing data resources that are comprehensive, user-friendly and cross-linked to other databases; but different data providers use different methods. This means that a researcher might have to search ten or more different databases to find all the information pertaining to a particular set of candidate genes. If they're doing these kinds of searches on a regular basis, they'll want their own local copies of the databases. Maintaining up-to-date and fully functioning versions of all those databases and the tools to search them is a huge and complex task.
Vincent Breton [CNRS, Clermont-Ferrand, France], a member of EMBRACE's Executive Board, describes the problem as analogous to the use of electrical items before the electrical grid. "You didn't know whether your gadget's plug would fit the socket," he says.
EMBRACE will turn the relationship between user and provider on its head by enabling data providers to provide well-defined interfaces to their databases that will conform to the same standards, essentially creating a 'data grid' ? the EMBRACEgrid ? that will allow users to make the most of dispersed data resources.
To ensure that EMBRACE's efforts are immediately useful to biologists, Europe's most heavily used biomolecular databases and tools will be integrated into the EMBRACEgrid. A 'technology watch' will ensure that the EMBRACEgrid doesn't become locked into technology that is quickly superseded. The grid will also receive regular workouts using test problems, such as identifying candidate genes for a disease or linking viral mutations to their ability to cause disease. Disseminating information about the EMBRACEgrid will be vital to ensure that scientists throughout Europe not only use the new technology, but also help to expand the capabilities of the EMBRACEgrid by 'grid enabling' their own data resources.
"Many elegant and powerful computational biology tools are under-utilized," says EMBRACE Executive Board member Erik Bongcam-Rudloff [University of Uppsala, Sweden]. "EMBRACE will allow us to unlock their potential by standardizing access to them."
Press Contact
Cath Brooksbank PhD
EMBL-EBI Scientific Outreach Officer Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK
Tel: +44 [0]1223 492525,
E-mail: cath[at]ebi.ac.uk
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Leading IT Vendors Leverage Brand in the Genomics Market
ARLINGTON, VA?March 2, 2005?According to a recent survey of more than 600 genomics researchers, leading information technology (IT) vendors Apple (NASDAQ 100: AAPL), Cisco Systems (NASDAQ 100: CSCO), Dell (NASDAQ 100: DELL), IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Microsoft (NASDAQ 100: MSFT) are widely perceived to be the best qualified to implement new technologies that will advance genomics research?specifically high performance computing, collaborative software and storage area networks. Other vendors, including HP/Compaq (NYSE: HPQ), Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ 100: SUNW) and Oracle (NASDAQ 100: ORCL), also fared well?especially among pharmaceutical and biotechnology scientists.
?The genomics market for IT solutions is still fragmented and many scientists are only now beginning to appreciate the powerful role IT will play in their research,? said Bill Kelly, President of BioInformatics, LLC (http://www.gene2drug.com), an Arlington, VA-based market research and consulting firm. ?It appears that many scientists are relying on brand associations formed in the consumer market when naming the IT vendors qualified to develop and install life science solutions.?
These findings were published in BioInformatics, LLC?s latest report, ?Information Technology in the Life Sciences: An Examination of Genomics Researchers,? which is based on one of the largest surveys ever of scientists who use information technology to make sense of the huge volume of genomics data being generated in research labs.
Genomics is the study of genes and their function?an area of research that is revolutionizing our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of disease and leading to the identification of thousands of new biological targets for the drug discovery programs of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Scientists worldwide are acquiring genomics data through the use of techniques such as amplification, DNA microarray expression, real-time PCR and genotyping. Instrumentation, hardware and software are then required to analyze, integrate and transmit this vast amount of data?which has resulted in significant IT challenges for those in the field.
?IT vendors need to understand that they can play a role at each stage in the genomics ?value chain?,? said Kelly. ?The process begins with the acquisition of data from analytical instruments and progresses through data processing, analysis, distribution and storage. The challenge facing scientists is that this is a heterogeneous hardware and software environment, which makes it difficult to integrate multiple application tools and disparate data.?
Life science instrumentation companies are also players in the genomics market for IT products and services. Instruments from Affymetrix (NASDAQ: AFFY), Agilent (NYSE: A), Applied Biosystems (NYSE: ABI), Beckman Coulter (NYSE: BEC), Bio-Rad (AMEX: BIO), GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences (NYSE: GE) and Roche Applied Science incorporate software designed not only to operate the instrument but also to help scientists analyze and interpret the results. ?Some instrument vendors are also becoming full-fledged software developers,? noted Kelly.
Genomics software is one of the areas where the report highlights a possible market opportunity. A number of commercial independent software vendors such as Accelrys (NASDAQ: ACCL), DNAStar, Gene Codes and Spotfire have developed targeted products for genomics, but scientists still rely on a confusing mix of internally developed software, freeware distributed throughout the scientific community, commercial packages from independent vendors and software embedded in analytical instruments.
According to Kelly, ?A true ?whole product? solution has yet to emerge, which means that there are still opportunities to set the de facto standards that create customer lock-in and encourage other vendors to develop products to complement and enhance the leader?s solution.?
For a complimentary Executive Summary of this report, please visit:
http://www.gene2drug.com/press.89.html
ABOUT BIOINFORMATICS, LLC
BioInformatics, LLC (http://www.gene2drug.com) is a market research firm that supports marketing, sales and R&D executives in the life science, medical device and pharmaceutical industries through published reports, custom research and consulting. BioInformatics sponsors the world?s largest market research panel of scientific customers?The Science Advisory Board (http://www.scienceboard.net)?which consists of more than 24,000 life science and medical professionals from 62 countries who participate in surveys that address emerging technologies, test customer reactions to new product concepts, measure brand awareness and assess advertising effectiveness.
For more information, please contact:
Alyssa Martin
BioInformatics, LLC
2111 Wilson Blvd., Suite 250
Arlington, VA 22201
703.778.3080 x12 (phone)
703.778.3081 (fax)
a.martin@gene2drug.com
http://www.gene2drug.com/
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