EMBnet.journal

Editorial

Welcome to a new issue of EMBnet.journal the international, Open Access, peer-reviewed bioinformatics journal.

In this issue, amongst other articles, you will read about SeqAhead, a new COST Action initiative that aims to tackle many of the complex informatics issues generated by the deluge of data flowing from Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies.

Genome sequencing studies are showing promise of both diagnostic and therapeutic benefits in clinical settings; in the agricultural area, the complete genome sequences of important plants, like the tomato and the potato, are out in the public domain - such projects facilitate the creation of new plant varieties that are resistant to drought and hash conditions. Clearly, a true biotechnological revolution has arrived, promising tangible biomedical and agri-food impacts. The need to train more researchers in the bioinformatics techniques necessary to deliver those impacts is therefore imperative; projects like SeqAhead are poised to help make this happen.

EMBnet.journal plays an integral part in the new data-driven landscape of the life sciences, not only providing updates on the latest tools, databases and educational materials relevant to the genomic revolution, but also offering general bioinformatics information to a growing community of researchers, from disciplines ranging from medicine to plant and farm animal sciences.