CSIR-IGIB, New Delhi
Empowering Life Sciences through Interdisciplinary Bioinformatics: Metagenomics and High Throughput Genomics Initiatives at CSIR-IGIB, New Delhi
The Bioinformatics Center at CSIR-IGIB is dedicated to developing innovative tools and methods for addressing challenging problems in life sciences through interdisciplinary approaches. With expertise in genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, structural biology, and bioinformatics, the Center also provides training and education programs in bioinformatics for students and researchers. Their ongoing project focuses on metagenomics and sequence analysis, including data visualization and comparative analysis tools for multi-genome level data.
The Center's primary objectives encompass hands-on training programs to enhance skillsin genomics, proteomics, and metagenomics for students and researchers. They offer project-based internships to at least 5 postgraduate students annually in the field of bioinformatics. Additionally, the Center aims to contribute to the development of software and pipelines in genomics and proteogenomics to support researchers working on multi-omics.
This includes the development of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) pipelines tailored for different platforms specific to various organisms, such as bacteria and viruses.
Notably, the Center has developed two bioinformatics pipelines with significant applications. The first pipeline is designed to identify potential vaccine candidates for mucormycosis, a life-threatening fungal infection. The second pipeline, named PgxSAVy, is a software tool designed to assess the accuracy and reliability of variant peptides detected by mass spectrometry in proteogenomics studies.
This bioinformatics center has played a vital role in advancing bioinformatics education by organizing workshops and symposiums covering topics such as data analysis, machine learning, and genomics. The diverse range of students they have trained, spanning various backgrounds and expertise levels, reflects their dedication to enhancing skills and awareness of bioinformatics applications and challenges. Moreover, they have contributed to the scientific community by developing several software and pipelines for bioinformatics analysis and publishing the outcomes in reputable scientific journals.
With a core focus on providing training, education, and research in bioinformatics, the Center aims to develop analysis platforms for researchers in human and plant areas. Collaborating with NNP partners, including NIPGR, THSTI, ILS, and NEHU, the renowned research institutes in India, the project aims to create a public repository for integrative multi- omics research. Additionally, it seeks to establish a universal proteogenomics workflow for genomics and transcriptomics data, knowledge resources for human brain and liver proteoforms, proteogenomics annotation for patho-stress and dehydration responsive genes, and isoforms of a cultivated grass pea, Lathyrus sativus, and its pathogen Sclerotinia. The project also includes pathway simulations for disease onset and decision support systems. This collaborative network of excellence in research is poised to facilitate seamless data
exchange and integrative analysis.
