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iBioS successfully combines the excellence of two renowned institutes

iBioS is part of the research network BioQuant

About iBioS – Integrative Bioinformatics and Systems Biology

iBioS is a joint research group between the division "Theoretical Bioinformatics" at the German Cancer Research Center (dkfz) and the department Bioinformatics and Functional Genomics at the Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology (IPMB) at Heidelberg University. The group is headed by Prof. Roland Eils, one of the founding directors of BioQuant, Heidelberg University's center for systems biology.

iBioS - short for integrative Bioinformatics and Systems Biology - works on the development of computer-assisted methods for the analysis of complex data generated in the modern life sciences and develops mathematical models for key cellular processes, for example in the context of virus infection or cancer. Theoretical projects are carried out in close collaboration with the experimental groups focusing on cellular death pathways.

Areas of major interest include:

Modeling and simulation of cellular systems
Data mining in molecular genetics and next generation sequencing
Data management for high-throughput technologies and medical samples
Quantitative monitoring of intra-cellular processes using light-microscopy
Biomedical computer vision

For more information on the research of iBioS go to Research Groups.

The multi-disciplinary team of iBioS consists of about 50 scientists from various fields including mathematics and physics, computer science, biology and medicine. The group members have published more than 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals since 2000.

The labs of the group are located in the DKFZ, at the IPMB and at the BioQuant at Heidelberg University. Members of iBioS have taken a leading role in several major initiatives in systems biology, most prominently ForSys and the Helmholtz Alliance on Systems Biology, both coordinated by Roland Eils.

iBioS at Group Retreat 2010 (click to magnify)

Newsflash

DKFZ to become National Center for High-Throughput Sequencing in Systems Biology

On June 2, Life Technologies and the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) have announced a partnership to create a World-Class Genome Sequencing Facility in Heidelberg. The sequencing center will be equipped with 10 Solid^TMhq systems and will be partially funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The facility coordinated by Roland Eils will be the first national sequencing center dedicated to systems biology.

Cooperation on global scale: Perspectives article on the International Cancer Genome Consortium published in Nature

The recent issue of Nature contains a perspectives article on the global International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC). iBioS is part of the Pedbraintumor-Consortium, the German contribution to the ICGC, which focuses on the elucidation of early-childhood brain tumors (Medulloblastoma and Pilocytic astrocytoma). Within the German consortium, Roland Eils takes responsibility for the entire IT and data analysis and acts as co-cordinator.

Whole Genome Analysis of Cell Division published in Nature

In a recent article in Nature, results from the Mitocheck consortium have been published. The Mitocheck team has combined genome-wide RNAi studies with automated image acquisition and processing to identify previously unknown genes involved in cell division. Besides other topics, members of iBioS have been responsible for the handling of the enormous amounts of image data generated within the project.

New Model for CD95 signalling published in Molecular Systems Biology

An new article, arising from the cooperation between the group of Inna Lavrik/Peter H. Krammer and iBioS has just been published in Molecular Systems Biology, the leading journal for systems biology research.

The paper features a new model, which helps to explain the dilemma, that stimulation of the death receptor CD95 sometimes leads to the induction of cell death via caspases and in others leads to the activation of NF-κB, leading to increased cell proliferation.