FEATURE INDEX

OVERVIEW OF THE FIELD: CANADIAN VIEWPOINT

HOT SKILL SETS

SKILL-BUILDING CLASSES AND TOOLS

PREDICTIONS FOR A POSTGENOMIC ERA

Bioinformatics is a nascent field that has evolved extremely quickly. Over the last few years, the first influx of large-scale sequencing data revealed a need for constructing and refining analytical algorithmic tools, while the second, current influx has demonstrated to many researchers that they need different tools and vastly different approaches to make sense of several genomes' worth of sequence. Cross-analyzing potential targets in eight different database systems has turned out to be far different from scanning sequences for potential disease-related genes.

The role of a bioinformatics research group within a larger organization (often a biotechnology or pharmaceutical company) is reflected in the group's research focus and the direction that a group takes under the research leader. This determines the day-to-day approach to analyzing genomic data, as well as the professional profiles of the scientists to be considered when hiring.

To get an idea of what bioinformatics groups in industry are looking for, we interviewed bioinformatics group leaders at four organizations with different research objectives and goals. Two of the group leaders are with Bayer and Wyeth-Ayerst, large pharmaceutical organizations that value strong skills in "lead discovery"--the ability to track data and minimize turnaround time between research breakthroughs and actual drug development. In addition to genomic data analysis, bioinformatics groups at Bayer and Wyeth-Ayerst plan to use computational approaches to track genome-based information through various product development stages. This contrasts with the more traditional, research-oriented approach of the bioinformatics group at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), which focuses on sequences of whole genomes such as Haemophilus influenza and is interested in cross-species genomic analysis. And then there are groups, such as Myriad Genetics' bioinformatics research group, whose current concerns include generating meaningful, accessible databases that will provide a strong foundation for future research.

Conversation with bioinformatics group leaders at these four organizations highlighted the following skills as critical to the field:

• computer science and genomics expertise for analysis of small- and large-scale informatics problems;
• the ability to filter information and extract possible relationships between data sets;
• database administration and programming skills (e.g., Sybase, CORBA, PERL, Java, C++, C);
• the ability to frame biological questions in a manner understandable to computer scientists (enabling the design of effective tools); and
• a thorough understanding of the problems addressed in the bioinformatics field.

Interviews with four bioinformatics managers:

Cutting-edge cross-genome analysis
Tony Kerlavage, The Institute for Genomic Research

Better databases and hands-on curation
Alun Thomas, Myriad Genetics

Professional scientific software developers and computer scientists
Keith Elliston, Bayer

Database "miners" and "bilingual" team scientists
Lou DeGennaro, Wyeth-Ayerst Research