Join Us at InCoB 2025 – Call for Participation

Dear Colleagues,

We are excited to announce the 24th International Conference on Bioinformatics (InCoB 2025), taking place from September 18–20, 2025, at the historic Bose Institute in Kolkata, India.

This year’s conference theme, “Bioinformatics-Driven Therapeutic Innovations: Microbiome and Beyond,” highlights the transformative role of bioinformatics in advancing healthcare and medicine.

InCoB 2025 will feature:

• Inspiring keynote lectures

• Oral and highlight presentations

• Flash/Lightning talks

• Poster sessions

• Hands-on workshops and demos

• APBioNET Annual General Meeting

This is a fantastic opportunity to present your work, engage with leading researchers, and expand your professional network.

We kindly ask for your support in spreading this Call for Participation within your professional networks.

We look forward to your participation at InCoB 2025!

Warm regards,
The InCoB 2025 Organizing Committee

APBioNETTalks Workshop: Unlock the Power of the Semantic Web with Wikidata!

Free, limited for 100 participants!

📅 Date: October 24, 2024
⏰ Time: 7 am UTC/12.30 noon IST/3 pm SGT
🎓 Speaker: Andra Waagmeester (Micelio BV)

Summary:
The Semantic Web (SW) has revolutionized the way data is linked and shared on the World Wide Web. However, harnessing the full potential of the SW can be challenging, requiring both technical skills and domain expertise. This workshop aims to bridge this gap by introducing Wikidata as a stepping stone to the Semantic Web. Wikidata, an extension of Wikipedia, offers a user-friendly platform that aligns well with the SW principles and can be utilized without extensive computer skills.

In this interactive workshop, participants will learn the fundamentals of making data suitable for the Semantic Web using Wikidata. The workshop will guide participants through the process of identifying the semantic model, normalizing data into RDF triples, and leveraging Wikidata’s features to enhance data interoperability. By the end of the workshop, participants will have a solid understanding of how to use Wikidata as a learning platform and entry point to the Semantic Web.

Register now: bit.ly/apbtalks-12

Finding Antimicrobial peptides in the global microbiome using machine learning

Speaker: 

Luis Pedro Coelho is a group leader at the Centre for Microbiome Research at the Queensland University of Technology. His research focuses on using very large scale datasets of the global microbiome to understand microbial ecology. His group is also known for developing high-quality tools, most notably SemiBin for metagenomics binning. Before moving to Australia, Luis got a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University in the (US), worked at the EMBL in Germany, and at Fudan University in China.

Abstract:

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are small peptides (operationally defined as those up to 100 amino acids) which kill or inhibit microbes. AMPs are produced by organisms from all domains of life, including by bacteria (which use it to compete with each other). They are of interest for drug development as they are less likely to lead to resistance than traditional antibiotics. However, the vast majority of AMPs are unknown. We have developed a machine learning approach to predict AMPs from metagenomic data. We have applied this approach to the global microbiome and found nearly one million novel AMPs. We tested 100 in vitro and found that 79 had antimicrobial activity. Subsequently, we tested the top candidates in vivo in a mouse model of infection and found that they were effective in reducing bacterial load at a level comparable to polymyxin B a clinically used antibiotic. This work demonstrates the power of machine learning to discover novel bioactive molecules from the global microbiome.

LINK

Workshop on Next Generation Tools: Exploring Bioinformatics with Julia and Rust

Speaker:

Dr. Ragothaman M. Yennamalli is a computational biologist at SASTRA Deemed to be University at Thanjavur, Taml Nadu. He has more than a decade of experience in predictive modelling and biomolecular simulation projects. Dr. Yennamalli’s skills involve machine learning, systems biology, molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation.

Abstract:

The rapid growth of biological research has led to the availability of an overwhelming amount of data. In this landscape, where the scale and complexity of biological data continues to grow exponentially, the need for robust, secure, and efficient methods to extract meaningful insights becomes increasingly critical. In the past, Bioinformatics tools primarily relied on conventional programming languages for data analysis, often capped by limitations in scalability and speed when processing vast datasets. However, the advent of modern languages such as Julia, with its prowess in high-performance computing, and Rust, renowned for its focus on safety and system-level programming, present themselves as formidable contenders in addressing the escalating complexities of biological data. The in-built parallel processing capabilities, coupled with the emphasis on memory safety and performance help researchers in producing significant discoveries while reducing the risk of potential errors inherent in handling complex biological information. Moreover, the versatility of Julia and Rust extends beyond their individual strengths. Their interoperability and potential to integrate with existing Bioinformatics tools and libraries further augment their utility in the field. This allows for the construction of comprehensive and robust pipelines for genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic analyses. A growing community of programmers dedicated to developing tools tailored for Bioinformatics applications proves to be the driving force. The dynamic synergy between efficient languages such as Julia and Rust in finding solutions to the ever increasing demands of data-analysis brings in the “Next-Generation” of Bioinformatics. Their speed, robustness, and versatility present them as transformative tools that enable researchers to catalyze the advancements in biological research and unravel the fundamental mechanisms of life.

Link