As part of the ongoing mission to train and educate scientists on the latest tools, methods and advances in genomics, the J. Craig Venter Institute's (JCVI) Eukaryotic Genome Annotation and Analysis Team will travel to Lubbock, TX March 3rd-5th to train 40 United States Agriculture Department (USDA) scientists at the Agricultural Research Service.
The training session will focus on the use of JCVI's eukaryotic annotation methods, and tools and computational pipeline for annotation, including the Institute's manual, open source, annotation tool, Manatee. The 40 scientists from around the United States will use real data to learn about many of the search tools and processes that JCVI scientists use to annotate, analyze and compare eukaryotic genomes. They will put together an analysis "pipeline" for the annotation of a genomic sequence, and will learn how to determine structural and functional characteristics of a genome, for example genes, gene products, genetic repeats, RNAs, etc. The USDA scientists will also gain a deeper understanding of the annotations available in publicly accessible databases.
In addition to the training, JCVI offers free annotation of prokaryotic genomes through the JCVI Annotation Service. This service has provided more than 100 investigators with more than 200 genomic sequences.
According to JCVI's Linda Hannick, "This annotation training demonstrates the practical application of bioinformatics to field science. The advent of more cost-effective, next generation sequencing technologies means that there is an ever-increasing amount of genomic data to analyze. The JCVI course equips scientists with the tools and understanding to analyze sequence data from their own projects."
The JCVI's Professional Development Program serves both scientists and non-scientists in providing adult learning opportunities about the latest tools and techniques in genomic research. To date more than 50 classes reaching more than 600 researchers have been conducted by JCVI's Professional Development Team.