The bioinformatics workshop POLYP BioInfoW: Ocean4Biotech Organisms Repository was successfully completed at the UNSA Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
As part of the COST Action CA18238 - European Transdisciplinary Networking Platform for Marine Biotechnology (https://www.ocean4biotech.eu/), organized by the Association of Geneticists in BiH (GENuBiH) with the support of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, the University Computing Center "SRCE" of the University of Zagreb and the Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology of the University of Sarajevo, on 17 and 18 January 2024, the bioinformatics workshop POLYP BioInfoW: Ocean4Biotech Organisms Repository was held in Sarajevo. The workshop was primarily aimed at students of biotechnical sciences, whose participation in the workshop was fully sponsored by the co-financiers of the project.
In 2023, the University of Sarajevo became a “satellite” of the O4B Biorepository, a database of marine organisms with biotechnological potential (http://o4b.biomarep.org/) whose UNSA coordinator is Prof. Dr. Lada Lukić Bilela. Since each new field research brings new data on microorganisms important for biotechnology, holding a bioinformatics workshop was necessary with the aim of training for the use (entry and search) of the mentioned biorepository.
The theoretical part of the workshop (17/01/2024), in a hybrid form, was held at the Holiday Hotel, and the practical part on-site (18/01/2024) at the Great Computing Center of the UNSA - Faculty of Science, with a focus on NGS data processing ( datasets of nucleotide sequences generated by next-generation sequencing). The digital resources for holding the practical part of the workshop were supported by the University Computing Center "SRCE" of the University of Zagreb, by creating a virtual server, for which we sincerely thank.
The first day of the workshop aimed to cover the complex path from field research and sampling to isolation and application of bioactive molecules and data storage in a biorepository /From habitat through species identification to natural product discovery/. The lectures were held by Dr. Ana Rotter, head of COST action CA18238 (National Institute of Biology, Piran, Slovenia) https://www.nib.si/mbp/en/cv/ana-rotter, Prof. Dr. Ariola Bacu (University of Tirana, Albania) https://fshn.edu.al/Departments/departamenti-i-bioteknologijise/Personel/prof-dr-ariola-bacu, Prof. Dr. Olivier P. Thomas (University of Galway, Ireland) https://www.universityofgalway.ie/our-research/people/biological-chemical-sciences/olivierthomas/, Prof. Dr. Zrinka Ljubešić, Ph.D. Maja Mucko (University of Zagreb - Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics) https://www.pmf.unizg.hr/biol/zrinka.ljubesic; https://www.pmf.unizg.hr/biol/maja.mucko, Prof. Dr. Belma Kalamujić Stroil and Prof. Dr. Naris Pojskić (University of Sarajevo - Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology) http://www.ingeb.unsa.ba/belma_cv.html; http://www.ingeb.unsa.ba/eng/naris_cv.html and Prof. Dr. Lada Lukić Bilela (University of Sarajevo - Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics) https://pmf.unsa.ba/nastavno-osoblje/.
In addition to students, the workshop was also intended for employees of the University of Sarajevo, i.e. anyone interested in processing NGS data. We express our special gratitude to Dr. Sci. Maja Mucko from the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, leader of the practical part of the workshop, for her exceptional dedication and enthusiasm in the preparation and performance of demonstration exercises. We are particularly proud of the students' turnout, where students from Croatia, Albania and Slovenia participated in addition to UNSA PMF students.
The organizers would like to especially thank Prof. Dr. Anja Haverić from the Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology UNSA and the secretary of GENuBiH, web administrator Nedim Bušatlija for helping with the organization of the event and Prof. Dr. Zenan Šabanac, head of the Department of Mathematics, Prof. Dr. Esmir Pilav, vice-dean for general affairs and finance of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, UNSA, for his wholehearted support in the effort to be good hosts of the workshop.
In addition to COST funds, the workshop was supported by the current grant of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH "Programs for the preparation of projects and potential candidates for funds from the HORIZON EUROPA fund" for the year 2023 (Grant No. 10-33-11-7060/23 of 26.12.2023), to whom we would like to express our special thanks on this occasion.
