Services and Collaborations

Basic Bioinformatics Package

The basic bioinformatics package gives all users in a lab:

login access to all bioinformatics servers
use of a broad range of bioinformatics software, organized through the BIRCH system
color printing on the fluorite duplex laser printer
automated backups to ensure data integrety

Cost per lab: First year $2000; Subsequent years: $1000

Wiki Hosting

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Collaborations

How to collaborate with us: Let us work with you on writing your next research proposal. If funded, the budget would include salary and operating expenses for one or more bioinformaticists to work in our lab. These FTEs will have as their first priority, to work with your project, to become experts on your project, and to keep the your project moving. Each member of the Bit Lab will contribute to many projects, because each member has unique areas of expertise. In return, your project will benefit from the expertise of all members of the team. This works to your advantage for many reasons, described in the table below.

Most often, a lab will hire one or two bioinformaticists for a new project. Compare that model with how the Bit Lab works.

Work on your own: "reinvent the wheel" http://blog.law.cornell.edu/voxpop/files/2011/09/Vox.reinventthe-wheel.png	Work with the Bit Lab: "get into the car and cruise" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1_and_2_Audi_R8.jpg
Writing the grant proposal
You write the bioinformatics component of your grant.	We work with you to write the grant: Benefit from our experience in writing grants for genomics projects Add credibility to your proposal Increase your chances of getting funded
Getting the project up to speed
need to hire and train new bioinformaticists	leverage an experienced team biologists bioinformaticians computer scientists
need to build hardware and software infrastructure	leverage our extensive bioinformatics hardware and software infrastructure
extensive time needed to get up to speed	start getting results from day 1
Getting results on budget and on time
Programmers and biologists don't speak the same language	Our team includes people from the entire spectrum spanning biology and computer science. All of us have training in both fields. We will go to your lab meetings, sit with you in your lab, and bridge the culture and knowledge gap between the biological and information sciences.
one or a few bioinformaticians have to do everything	leverage a team with depth in many areas of bioinformatics
your bioinformaticist(s) work in isolation	Intellectual critical mass: synergistic sharing of knowledge and expertise in a dynamic research environment
Have you done this before?	Industry level standards for data security data integrity and backups server availability software engineering
After the project is over
Your funding ends and your bioinformaticists leave. Six months later, can you still find your data and rerun critical data pipelines after the reviewers suggest further experiments?	All the people who know your work are still in the lab, giving a continuity of expertise for "wrap up", or for your next project.

PREVIOUS OR ONGOING COLLABORATIONS

Levin Lab Biosystems Engineering University of Manitoba	Genomics of Rhodosporidium diobovatum
Dr. Karen Brassinga Department of Microbiology University of Manitoba http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~brassing 2012	The ecology and molecular pathogenesis of Legionnaires' Disease
Dr. Richard Gordon University of Manitoba	Chromolinkers - DNA bridges between mitotic chromosomes?
(2009 - 2013)	Microbial Genomics for Biofuels and Co-Products from Biorefining Processes. The goals of the research is to conduct a full genetic characterization of both known and novel bacteria selected for their ability to convert lignocellulosic biomass to biofuels (ethanol, hydrogen) and renewable, biodegradable plastics (polyhydroxylalkanoate (PHA) biopolymers). The focus is on the relationships between genome content, gene and gene product expression, and metabolism to understand how carbon and electrons are partitioned to fermentation end-products. Understanding these relationships is enabling rationale strategies for development of robust, industrially applicable microbial consortia for biorefining processes.
Genome Canada Bioinformatics Platform (2003 - 2011)	The Bit lab has its origins in the Genome Canada Bioinformatics Platform (Bioinformatics Innovation Centre), which provided bioinformatics services, infrastructure and training to researchers across Canada and around the world for many years.