International collaboration to boost genome research in developing countries
1 June 2006
The Wellcome Trust, whose funding has been crucial to progress in genome sequencing, is collaborating with the Pasteur Institute to share its expertise and knowledge with developing countries. The initiative is aimed at providing training in the fast-moving arena of genome analysis.
In a joint collaboration with the Pasteur Institute and the Institute of Hygiene, both in Montevideo, Uruguay, members of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute Pathogen Sequencing Unit, the Pasteur Institutes in Paris and Montevideo, and the National Scientific Computational Lab in Brazil will run a ten-day course beginning on 5 June. This will aim to give postgraduate students and postdoctoral scientists an introduction to bioinformatics tools and genomic analysis. Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute are at the forefront of these research areas and are using the techniques to study the genomes of the world's major killers, such as malaria, typhoid fever and the superbug MRSA.
The course is part of the Wellcome Trust Advanced Courses, which usually take place at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge. By offering the courses for free to countries in the developing world, the Trust aims to build on the local institutions' strong scientific knowledge and front-line clinical research in order to offer their researchers up-to-date training in the fast-moving arena of analysis and provide the mechanisms to keep up with new developments.
The first week of the course will be taught by members of the Pasteur Institutes in Paris and Montevideo, and the National Scientific Computational Lab in Brazil. This will provide an introduction to genomics, covering how and where to obtain genome data, sequence assembly and a basic introduction to sequence annotation.
The second week of the course will build on this knowledge and will be taught by members of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute Pathogen Sequencing Unit, focusing on pathogens of the two types of cells: prokaryotic and eukaryotic. It will also provide a firm grounding in the use of the genome analysis software (Artemis and ACT) developed by the Unit. Artemis allows the user to analyse sequence data generated in-house as well as enabling them to upload and re-analyse data taken from databases. ACT allows direct and interactive comparisons of multiple genomes/sequences, enabling the user to exploit the growing number of genomes from closely related organisms and to look at genome architecture and evolution.
In addition to training researchers from all over South America at the course, the Wellcome Trust will be donating high-power computers - essential for analysing the genomes - to the Institute of Hygiene, Uruguay, in order that a permanent training room can be set up. Sanger Institute instructors will return there in December to hold a workshop on analysing the human genome.
Following the workshops in Uruguay, the Trust is planning further workshops and laboratory-based courses in other developing countries, where it has Major Overseas Programmes studying malaria and other important diseases of the tropics. These include Kenya, Thailand, Malawi and Vietnam.
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Wellcome Trust
Craig Brierley
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Notes for editors
1. The Wellcome Trust is the most diverse biomedical research charity in the world, spending about £450 million every year both in the UK and internationally to support and promote research that will improve the health of humans and animals. The Trust was established under the will of Sir Henry Wellcome, and is funded from a private endowment, which is managed with long-term stability and growth in mind.
2.The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute was founded in 1992 as the focus for the UK sequencing effort of the human and mouse genomes. The Institute is responsible for the completion of the sequence of approximately one-third of the human genome and one-fifth of the mouse, The Institute is also a major contributor to the mapping and sequencing of the zebrafish genome and genomes of more than 90 disease-causing organisms, including TB and malaria. The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is based in Hinxton, Cambridge, UK.