A Multi-Processor Linux Farm for Bioinformatics and Functional Genomics

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There are currently unprecedented amounts of biological data that need to be analysed to advance our understanding of the biological sciences. This is due to the increase in large-scale, high-throughput research projects in genomics and post-genomics, of which the Human Genome Project is the best known. This leads to an increase in data volumes that need to be stored, analysed and curated. Consequently, greater computing capacity is required for research at the forefront of international research. The types of questions we now wish to address involve wide-scale comparisons, such as comparing genomes from different organisms and require considerable computing infrastructure. Naturally, the limits of what can be addressed are dependent on computing support. As a group of researchers, we propose to develop and apply new computational methods to study a whole range of biological problems. We will study how DNA is organised in the cell, and how it gives rise to cellular functions. We aim to understand how the agents of action in a cell (proteins) interact to give rise to complex biological systems, and how these interactions and other functions are dependent on the three-dimensional shapes of each of the interacting molecular components. We will compare cellular components and systems from different organisms to understand how they evolve. Only through comparison of many sets of data, often from several organisms, can a new understanding of general trends and characteristics of biological organisms be obtained.