Bioinformatics_Pillar

BIOINFORMATICS CLOUD APPLICATIONS IN LIFE SCIENCES & BIOTECH INDUSTRIES

Bioinformatics 

The bioinformatics field is rife with innovation and opportunity both within research and practical applications. To gain new insights, biologists are using computer science to analyze data in ways that would be impossible using traditional methods. iuvo Technologies helps support bioinformatics teams by providing reliable and effective IT and cloud solutions.

Table of Contents: 

  • What is Bioinformatics? The Basics, History, and Future of the Field
  • Bioinformatics Applications
  • Developing and Applying Cloud Computing Bioinformatics
  • iuvo Technologies: Bioinformatics IT Service Provider
  • Frequently Asked Questions
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What Is Bioinformatics? The Basics, History and Future of the Field

Bioinformatics is a cross-disciplinary field that applies software tools to better analyze and understand biological data. It combines biology, computer science, information technology, statistics, and other disciplines to achieve a greater understanding of biology that would be possible with traditional analysis methods. In some cases, information technology is used to efficiently analyze data at the end of experiments, surveys, or other data-collection processes. In other cases, teams develop pipelines that are repeatedly used throughout a project. This latter application is especially common in genomics.

From here, the future of bioinformatics looks positive. The evolution of data regarding genes and gene sequencing allows for scientists to build more accurate models of molecules. Because of the complexity of this data coming through, some believe that machine learning is the future of bioinformatics, as it is becoming increasingly more difficult for scientists to study the influx of information.

Bioinformatics Applications

There are a variety of practical bioinformatics applications in life and environmental sciences. Molecular biology and genomic research are the two most prominent bioinformatics applications. They are the study of the molecular basis of biology and the genomes of living things, respectively. Both these disciplines are so complex and data-heavy that continuing study without the aid of advanced computer and information systems would be nearly impossible.

Other applications include proteomics (the study of proteomes, sets of proteins), transcriptomics (the study of RNS transcriptome), phylogenetics (the study of the relationship in groups of organisms), and metabolomics (the study of metabolism and metabolites). There can be practical applications in gene therapy, drug development, climate science, energy, waste cleanup, and more. Furthermore, it is likely that novel applications will continue to arise as new bioinformatic tools and strategies emerge. With the increasing emergence of new information, it’s vastly important to expand, protect, and secure that data now more than ever. It’s also becoming more of a need for those in the field to customize and scale their infrastructure systems.

Subfields Within Bioinformatics 

  • Computational Biology: The application of data to solve problems presented in biology.
  • Molecular Modeling: The use of computational chemistry to model molecular structures.
  • Pathway Analysis: Software assessments to identify proteins and analyze their metabolic pathways.
  • Systems Biology: Mathematical and computational modeling of large biological data sets.

 

Developing and Applying Cloud Computing Bioinformatics

Cloud computing can unlock many new opportunities for scientific study. One of the key benefits of cloud solutions is that they allow the rapid provisioning of new systems, applications and infrastructure. Thus, they can be very flexible to quickly suit the needs of researchers. With the right cloud solutions, life sciences teams can rapidly scale and modify their computing systems to suit their continued advancements.

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iuvo Technologies offers a variety of cloud bioinformatics solutions, including Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services and Google,that provide robust infrastructure and scalable IT systems. This always starts with an audit of each client’s current on-premises and/or cloud-based systems. Using the insight from this audit process, we plan solutions that will help our clients to achieve more of their goals.

Bioinformatics Clouds for Big Data Manipulation 

For example, DNA, RNA and protein sequence data is frequently well beyond the scope of traditional data analysis. Fortunately, big data analytical techniques can be used to gather highly precise insights from these data sets.
 
For example, machine learning technologies allow researchers to “train” artificial intelligence systems to analyze and group biological data in interesting and informative ways. This can potentially result in analyses that the researchers themselves would not have considered before. However, this process requires significant computing power, which would not be possible without a seamless and robust IT setup. Furthermore, it is often impractical to house such systems using on-premises hardware.
 
To help deliver better technology to research teams, cloud computing has been adopted as a major part of the bioinformatics ecosystem. Using the cloud, teams can access computing resources exactly when they need them with no restrictions on where they work (thus, labs can be established without needing to think about where to house all the necessary IT resources). Additionally, the cloud can help teams scale their experiments with minimal lead time. This results in better and faster outcomes from both a research and business perspective.

 

 iuvo Technologies: Bioinformatics IT Service Provider

iuvo Technologies works with organizations in life sciences and other industries, primarily in the Greater Boston Area. We provide IT consulting solutions and managed services such as the following:

We help life sciences, teams, to overcome challenges such as how to use their resources to gain useful insights, how to ensure their computing power is never hindered, how to integrate data collection with data analysis systems, how to scale efficiently, and how to simplify workflows. Whether you have existing systems that aren’t working exactly the way you want to, you need to scale up your current setup or you are starting from scratch, the iuvo Technologies team can help you achieve IT success.

 

Why Choose iuvo Technologies Over Other Bioinformatics Service Providers?

The iuvo Technologies team has extensive experience providing cloud life sciences solutions. We have spent decades providing white-glove service to life sciences, biotech, bioinformatics and other companies in the Greater Boston Area. Our proven history of success as a managed services provider speaks for itself. We encourage you to learn more about our services, case studies or to contact us for more information.

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Any MSP can provide technology solutions to your business, or show they are familiar with typical bioinformatics tools. However, the iuvo Technologies team understands that success in bioinformatics is about much more than just having good tools. We know that you need fast, friendly and effective service to help your team solve the unique IT challenges that you face. We also know that the cloud and an MSP’s knowledge about the cloud should supersede knowledge about basic industry tools. This is because it is not the tools themselves that matter, but how they are integrated that empower computing and research to happen. Our team members are skilled technologists, as well as cloud and customer service experts. We have the knowledge on how to set your business up so that your science stands out. Reach out to us today to see the iuvo Technologies difference.

iuvo Technologies Automates and Integrates Cloud Computing in Life Sciences

Automated workflows can help increase productivity in life sciences and lead to both research and business success. iuvo Technologies works with bioinformatics and other life sciences businesses to create automated solutions, frequently including integrated cloud solutions. We understand the unique requirements of life sciences businesses and can help you with solutions that accelerate your workflows.

Invest In Your Bioinformatics IT Success Today

Discover more about how iuvo Technologies can empower your bioinformatics team. Explore our comprehensive IT consulting solutions and managed services today. Contact us to request a free initial consultation.

FAQs

Cloud computing in life sciences can provide teams with on-demand resources to progress their work. It is also helpful for hosting large data sets and increasing data availability. The cloud provides a level of computational power that many biotechs need and cannot get with a traditional on premise set up. The cloud only provides these benefits if it is set up correctly. Partnering with cloud experts, like iuvo Technologies, is vital. 

The field sits at the junction between biology and computer science. Thus, information technology is critical. The right infrastructure and software will make collecting, analyzing and using biological data easier. IT is the hidden gem within the biotech and life sciences fields that truly power the ability for rapid innovation and research. 

Some of the most popular bioinformatics IT tools include GALAXY, Ascalaph Designer, AutoDock and BioJava. iuvo Technologies can help you implement these tools and many more, for a seamless and more productive experience.

Researchers use computer software that can help analyze large sets of biological data efficiently. In addition to the above four tools, geWorkbench, BioPerl and UGENE are commonly used.

Some of the top companies in the field include Bio-Rad Laboratories, Agilent Technologies, Thermo Fisher Scientific (including Waltham, MA-based subsidiary Life Technologies Corporation) and Illumina, Inc.

There are many talented researchers working in bioinformatics. Some of the top experts include Peer Bork, Wolfgang Huber, Gordon Smyth, Serafim Batzoglou and Jennifer Gardy.

Although bioinformatics software and its application does not always rely on machine learning, the recent advances in this area open up a lot of possibilities. Machine Learning is excellent at analyzing large data sets such as those found in biology.

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iuvo Technologies can Empower Your Biotech or Life Science Business

We can help you scale, store data, implement cloud-based system solutions and get to market faster through our white-glove IT services designed to support your growth! 

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