MS INBRE: BIOINFORMATICS CORE

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The MFGN bioinformatics core (BC) provides three major services to Mississippi scientists and students. The first one is a web-accessible suite of sequence analysis tools. EMBOSS (European Molecular Biology Open Software Suite) allows our clients to access the software from anywhere in the state, analyze and store sequence data on MFGN servers. The second major service offered by the core is microarray data analysis. These efforts include statistical analysis and management of microarray data, analysis of genomic, proteomic and metabolomic data, and development of bioinformatics tools. The third service offered by the core is biological database design. These efforts have been made possible by the recruitment of a computational biologist, Dr. Youping Deng, into a tenure track position. Dr. Deng is an expert in bioinformatics and acts as associate director of the MFGN bioinformatics core. More than eleven projects are currently underway utilizing the bioinformatics core facilities and expertise. Another ongoing project at the core is the installation of access grid nodes (AGNs) at the PUI institutions. The core is using the supplement awarded by NCRR to increase bandwidth at the PUIs, which is essential for bringing the AGNs on-line. All PUIs will also be provided with Internet2, which will allow them to fully participate in the networking and mentoring activities of MFGN. These efforts were temporarily delayed due to Hurricane Katrina. Bellsouth (internet service provider) and IT personnel at the campuses involved (USM and PUIs) needed time to repair damage caused by the hurricane before continuing work on the project. We are pleased to report that work on the Internet2 upgrade is back on track. All the necessary hardware has been ordered, and plans are finalized and approved by all of the IT departments involved. We expect the project to be completed by March 2006.