Bioinformatics is a rapidly emerging science. It involves the application of informatics to the field of molecular biology. The bioinformatics field is fast growing all over the world and is currently highly sought-after by established companies and research groups related to the biological sciences.
The blend of sciences involved in this field attracted me and encouraged me to take my first step into the field by pursuing a Masters degree at the University of Edinburgh.
The taught M.Sc. in informatics degree course involved a combination of taught modules during the first and second semester. The list of modules to choose from is long, and one is truly spoilt for choice.
By the end of the second semester after the examinations, I started to work on my thesis: ‘Restriction-site Associated DNA (RAD) sequencing as a genetic mapping tool’.
My supervisors, Prof. Mark Blaxter and Dr John Davey, together with the people working at the labs, were very collaborative, and this helped me a lot. The thesis was carried out at the Genepool, a next-generation genomics and bioinformatics facility based within the School of Biological Sciences, at the University of Edinburgh, which is currently implementing the RAD sequencing method at the University of Edinburgh.
The RAD sequencing method is a genetic mapping method that is used in the study of population genetics and utilises the Illumina Genome Analyser.
My thesis involved the implementation of a tool that simulates this method and generates a list of RAD tags and restriction enzyme fragments. Analysis was then performed on the fragments and tags generated with the main aim to try to identify the factors that cause the variable amount of tags generated by different restriction enzymes.
Though bioinformatics is one of the high priority areas in Malta at present, prioritised by research projects and scholarship schemes, I am disappointed by the fact that there are very few employment opportunities here for students who, like me, have specialised in this field.
With the large amounts of molecular data available, it has become impossible for scientists to continue inspecting genomic regions using manual, time-consuming methods.
Bioinformatics has brought about a revolution in this aspect as it has sped up research and made possible the sharing of molecular and medicinal data from different research institutes worldwide.
Many advances in research were especially noticed after the Human Genome Project was completed, as this determined the genetic mapping and genomic sequence of the human DNA.
Last year, the Maltese government launched the €20 million life sciences park project, which aims to boost Malta’s research related to biotechnology and medical science. To do this, however, bioinformatics must be applied.
At present, this is not possible due to the lack of people in Malta who are specialised in this field – a reality resulting from the lack of awareness and working opportunities in this field on the island.
If the subject were to be introduced into our tertiary educational system, students with an interest in the computational and life sciences would have the opportunity to study and conduct research in the field of bioinformatics.
Currently there is no bioinformatics course at the University. As a result, many science students do not even know about bioinformatics. I only discovered the field when browsing through foreign university courses.
The current advances in technology require that students undertaking courses related to molecular biology must also be introduced to bioinformatics to get themselves involved with the wealth of information present in sequence databases and tools that will help them better analyse their data.
Being an interdisciplinary field, bioinformatics can break the walls that exist between the different faculties at the University and start building bridges between them. It is the era of interdisciplinary research, the application of bioinformatics can achieve great advances, especially in our educational and research system.
The fact that the government has already invested in information technology has resulted in an increase in the number of people who are undertaking a career in IT.
This aspect can be further exploited by creating a bioinformatics hub in Malta where people from the IT sector can work hand in hand with people from the molecular biology and mathematics areas.
Such a blend of interdisciplinary expertise can lead to many interesting discoveries, such as identification of disease-causing genes, and the treatment and even prevention of diseases.
Bioinformatics is a good way to enhance collaboration between different sectors, both in education and industry, including IT, molecular biology, statistics, pharmaceutical and other health-related fields.
It would be a pity to let students who are specialised in bio-informatics to be forced to go abroad as a result of the lack of opportunities available in Malta.
Ms Cardona’s M.Sc. degree was made possible following the award of a STEPS scholarship, which was part-financed by the European Union – European Social Fund (ESF) under Operational Programme II – Cohesion Policy 2007-2013, ‘Empowering People for More Jobs and a Better Quality of Life’.
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