Bioinformatics in Auvergne

Bioinformatics has been in use in Auvergne for several years now, in public and private research laboratories as well as major industrial firms.

More and more businesses and laboratories are setting up in Auvergne, particularly in the Biopôle Clermont-Limagne Life Sciences Park, developing new technologies in the following areas:

• animal biology
• plant biology
• biotechnologies
• pharmaceutical industry
• genomics/post-genomics
• biomedicine

With extensive IT storage and computing facilities in place, the use of bioinformatics has expanded considerably.

The results obtained in the search for new medicines to cure neglected diseases using "virtual screening" on the computing grid have been impressive, cutting the computing timeframes that would have required years, if not centuries, using traditional IT tools, to merely a few weeks!

With the startup of the regional innovative action programme (PRAI) e-nnovergne LifeGrid in 2006, there has been a sudden speed-up and pooling of available skills.
Since then, bioinformatic tools have been developed and made available to increasing numbers of users, who can now access constantly updated local, regional and international databases through a user-friendly web portal.

This growth spurt in bioinformatics has also hit the world of academia, with cutting-edge university courses now being offered at all study levels:

• Bioinformatics DUT (two-year post-A level diploma) at Aurillac
• Vocational three-year degree in bioinformatics at Aurillac
• Vocational Masters in bioinformatics at Clermont-Ferrand

LifeGrid, the regional information system