Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics
Encyclopedia
Foundation (charity)
A foundation is a legal categorization of nonprofit organizations that will typically either donate funds and support to other organizations, or provide the source of funding for its own charitable purposes....
which federates bioinformatics activities throughout Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. The SIB was established on 30 March 1998 and its mission is to provide core bioinformatics resources to the life science research community in fields such as genomics
Genomics
Genomics is a discipline in genetics concerning the study of the genomes of organisms. The field includes intensive efforts to determine the entire DNA sequence of organisms and fine-scale genetic mapping efforts. The field also includes studies of intragenomic phenomena such as heterosis,...
, proteomics
Proteomics
Proteomics is the large-scale study of proteins, particularly their structures and functions. Proteins are vital parts of living organisms, as they are the main components of the physiological metabolic pathways of cells. The term "proteomics" was first coined in 1997 to make an analogy with...
and systems biology
Systems biology
Systems biology is a term used to describe a number of trends in bioscience research, and a movement which draws on those trends. Proponents describe systems biology as a biology-based inter-disciplinary study field that focuses on complex interactions in biological systems, claiming that it uses...
and to coordinate the field of bioinformatics in Switzerland. In particular, the SIB promotes research, develop databanks
Database
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
and computer technologies, and is involved with teaching and service activities.
The SIB is a federation of research groups with affiliated bioinformaticians at the SIB partner institutions: the Universities of Geneva
University of Geneva
The University of Geneva is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland.It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin, as a theological seminary and law school. It remained focused on theology until the 17th century, when it became a center for Enlightenment scholarship. In 1873, it...
, Lausanne
University of Lausanne
The University of Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of theology, before being made a university in 1890. Today about 12,000 students and 2200 researchers study and work at the university...
, Basel
University of Basel
The University of Basel is located in Basel, Switzerland, and is considered to be one of leading universities in the country...
, Berne
University of Berne
The University of Bern is a university in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a broad choice of courses and programmes in eight faculties and some 160 institutes. The university is an...
and Zurich
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....
, the Federal Institutes of Technology in Lausanne
École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
The École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne is one of the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology and is located in Lausanne, Switzerland.The school was founded by the Swiss Federal Government with the stated mission to:...
and Zurich
ETH Zurich
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich or ETH Zürich is an engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management university in the City of Zurich, Switzerland....
, the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd is a global non-profit medical research institute that undertakes laboratory and clinical research into cancer, conducting and sponsoring its own early-phase clinical trials to investigate its discoveries....
and the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research
Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research
The Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research is part of the Novartis Research Foundation and is a world-class center for basic research in life sciences based in Basel, Switzerland.-Scientific activities:...
. Current research groups in the SIB are located in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
, Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, Bern and Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
.
The SIB includes researchs and service groups in the fields of proteomics
Proteomics
Proteomics is the large-scale study of proteins, particularly their structures and functions. Proteins are vital parts of living organisms, as they are the main components of the physiological metabolic pathways of cells. The term "proteomics" was first coined in 1997 to make an analogy with...
, transcriptomics, genomics
Genomics
Genomics is a discipline in genetics concerning the study of the genomes of organisms. The field includes intensive efforts to determine the entire DNA sequence of organisms and fine-scale genetic mapping efforts. The field also includes studies of intragenomic phenomena such as heterosis,...
, systems biology
Systems biology
Systems biology is a term used to describe a number of trends in bioscience research, and a movement which draws on those trends. Proponents describe systems biology as a biology-based inter-disciplinary study field that focuses on complex interactions in biological systems, claiming that it uses...
, structural bioinformatics
Structural bioinformatics
Structural bioinformatics is the branch of bioinformatics which is related to the analysis and prediction of the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules such as proteins, RNA, and DNA...
, evolutionary bioinformatics
Evolutionary bioinformatics
Evolutionary Bioinformatics is a peer-reviewed open access academic journal focusing on computational biology in the study of evolution.The journal was founded by the director of the New Zealand Bioinformatics Institute, Allen Rodrigo in 2005 and is currently edited by Dennis Wall, the Director of...
, modelling, imaging, biophysics and population genetics
Population genetics
Population genetics is the study of allele frequency distribution and change under the influence of the four main evolutionary processes: natural selection, genetic drift, mutation and gene flow. It also takes into account the factors of recombination, population subdivision and population...
. It develops and maintains several biological database
Biological database
Biological databases are libraries of life sciences information, collected from scientific experiments, published literature, high-throughput experiment technology, and computational analyses. They contain information from research areas including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, microarray...
s, including the UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot annotated protein database, neXtProt
NeXtProt
neXtProt is an on-line knowledge platform on human proteins.It strives to be a comprehensive resource that provides a variety oftypes of information on human proteins, such as their function,...
, a human-centric protein knowledge platform and STRING
STRING
In molecular biology, STRING is a database and web resource of known and predicted protein-protein interactions....
, a database of known and predicted protein interactions, as well as software such as Melanie or SWISS-MODEL. The ExPASy
ExPASy
ExPASy is a bioinformatics resource portal operated by the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and in particular the SIB Web Team. It is an extensible and integrative portal accessing many scientific resources, databases and software tools in different areas of life sciences...
server, mirrored in several countries worldwide, is dedicated to the analysis of protein sequences and structures as well as 2-D PAGE
Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis
Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, abbreviated as 2-DE or 2-D electrophoresis, is a form of gel electrophoresis commonly used to analyze proteins...
.
The institute was originally created to provide a framework for stable long-term funding for both the Swiss-Prot database and the Swiss EMBnet
EMBnet
EMBnet is an international network that aims to enhance bioinformatics services by bringing together bioinformatics service providers. On 2011 EMBnet has 37 nodes spread over 32 countries...
node. Swiss-Prot in particular went through a major funding crisis in 1996, which led the leaders of the five research groups active in bioinformatics in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
and Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
, Ron Appel, Amos Bairoch
Amos Bairoch
Amos Bairoch is a Swiss bioinformatician, born 22 November 1957.Bairoch is currently professor of Bioinformatics at the Department of Structural biology and Bioinformatics of the University of Geneva and group leader at the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics...
, Philipp Bucher, Victor Jongeneel and Manuel Peitsch to propose the creation of the SIB. After its creation, the institute could then apply for funding under a Swiss law that allows the government to fund up to 50% of expenses of vital research and teaching infrastructures.
The first director of the institute was Victor Jongeneel, who was followed between 2001 and September 2007 by Ernest Feytmans
Ernest Feytmans
Prof. Ernest Feytmans is a biologist, director of the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics between 2001 and September 2007....
. Since 1 October 2007, the institute is led by Ron Appel, one of its founding members.
External links
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics
- Information about Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics- Switzerland
- "SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics" in the official registry of corporations of the Canton of GenevaCanton of GenevaThe Republic and Canton of Geneva is the French speaking westernmost canton or state of Switzerland, surrounded on almost all sides by France. As is the case in several other Swiss cantons The Republic and Canton of Geneva is the French speaking westernmost canton or state of Switzerland,...
.