Open Call for Tutorial Proposals & Proceedings

Time remains! Submit your Tutorial Proposals before the December 14, 2020 deadline.

Call for Tutorial Proposals
Deadline: December 14, 2020

The purpose of the Tutorials program is to build knowledge and provide hands-on training in "cutting-edge" topics relevant to the bioinformatics field and the COSI communities. Tutorials offer participants an opportunity to get an introduction to important established topics in bioinformatics, to learn about new areas of bioinformatics research, or to develop advanced skills in areas about which they are already knowledgeable. Tutorials may also serve to bring together people and COSI communities with common interests to discuss, debate and problem-solve defined topics.

More details and submission criteria

The ISCB leadership, ECCB leadership, and ISMB/ECCB 2021 Steering Committee continue to monitor the global COVID-19 pandemic, always keeping the health and safety of our membership and community at the top of our minds. At this time, we remain optimistic that we will have the opportunity to gather together in Lyon, France in July 2021. We understand that many of you may still be concerned about traveling under travel restrictions. Thus we are offering to our community the ability to attend the ISMB/ECCB 2021 conference either in person or virtually. Continue reading...

December 10, 2020 at 11:00 AM EST,  “Open Access” Data and the Continued Bio-Exploitation of Indigenous Genomes by Krystal Tsosie, Vanderbilt University.  Hosted by ISCB

While the field of genomics has certainly advanced technologically in the past 20 years, what (if anything) has actually changed in how scientists engage Indigenous people?

Global Indigenous groups expressed concerns about the biocommercial exploitation of Indigenous-derived genomic data at the start of large-scale diversity projects such as the Human Genome Diversity Project, Genographic Project, and 1000 Genomes. Open accessibility of these data were meant to “democratize” the field of genomics to advance technology and bridge health inequities—but for whom? Health benefits have yet to arrive to those Indigenous communities from whom DNA was questionably procured, yet companies continue to build intellectual property from openly sourced Indigenous genomes.

Presentation will highlight individual versus group consent issues and the myth of de-identification of DNA for small, underrepresented groups in genomics. In addition, Indigenous genomic data sovereignty and the importance of Indigenous-led biological and data repositories (or ‘biobanks’) will be discussed as means of centering Indigenous forms of data governance.

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Save the date for the next ISCB Webinar:

• January 28, 2021 at 11:00 AM EST SaGePhy: A phylogenetic simulation framework for gene and subgene evolution by Soumya Kundu, University of Connecticut.  Hosted by EvolCompGen COSI and SMBE
  

Awards Nominations Deadline - TODAY 02 December

Submit your nomination for one of these annual awards today.  

The program is nomination based and we strong encourage the submission of nominations that are diverse in nature.

The award winners will be announced in Spring 2021.

Awards Nominations Deadline - 02 December

Submit your nomination for one of these annual awards today.  

The program is nomination based and we strong encourage the submission of nominations that are diverse in nature.

The award winners will be announced in Spring 2021.

Register online to attend RSGDREAM 2020

November 12, 2020 at 11:00 AM EST, The Illusion of Inclusion — The “All of Us” Research Program and Indigenous Peoples’ DNA by Keolu Fox, hosted by ISCB

Raw data, including digital sequence information derived from human genomes, have in recent years emerged as a top global commodity. This shift is so new that experts are still evaluating what such information is worth in a global market. In 2018, the direct-to-consumer genetic-testing company 23andMe sold access to its database containing digital sequence information from approximately 5 million people to GlaxoSmithKline for $300 million. Earlier this year, 23andMe partnered with Almirall, a Spanish drug company that is using the information to develop a new antiinflammatory drug for autoimmune disorders. This move marks the first time that 23andMe has signed a deal to license a drug for development.

Eighty-eight percent of people included in large-scale studies of human genetic variation are of European ancestry, as are the majority of participants in clinical trials. Corporations such as Geisinger Health System, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, AncestryDNA, and 23andMe have already mined genomic databases for the strongest genotype–phenotype associations. For the field to advance, a new approach is needed. There are many potential ways to improve existing databases, including “deep phenotyping,” which involves collecting precise measurements from blood panels, questionnaires, cognitive surveys, and other tests administered to research participants. But this approach is costly and physiologically and mentally burdensome for participants. Another approach is to expand existing biobanks by adding genetic information from populations whose genomes have not yet been sequenced — information that may offer opportunities for discovering globally rare but locally common population-specific variants, which could be useful for identifying new potential drug targets.

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