We are back with our Getting to know us blog series! This month, we talked to Louisse from the Outreach team. Find out how she ended up here, what her everyday workday looks like and what she does outside of work.
Continue readingAuthor: Louisse Paola Mirabueno
The first invertebrate-themed Ensembl Rapid Release is out!
We are pleased to announce that Ensembl Rapid Release 40 with 94 new genomes is now live! With Rapid Release 40, we also introduce the first of many invertebrate-themed Ensembl Rapid Releases. The inaugural theme has an emphasis on scientific advancements in global food security. We have added 21 agriculturally significant insect species, which include organisms viewed as priorities in the pursuit of boosting fundamental biological understanding and insights into biological control mechanisms, both indispensable to increase global food production and availability.
Continue readingGetting to know us: Marc from Ensembl Production
After a little hiatus we are back with our Getting to know us blog series! Meet Marc Chakiachvili who joined Ensembl back in 2018. Keep reading to find out about his diverse work experience and that you don’t have to do an undergraduate degree in bioinformatics to work in the field.
Continue readingGSoC 2022: Our students and their projects
Today’s blog focuses on this year’s Google Summer of Code (GSoC). GSoC is an international program founded by Google in 2005 with the purpose of bringing together open-source organisations, and developers interested in contributing to open-source software and getting an “exposure to real-world software development techniques”. Host organisations list project ideas, and applicants discuss these ideas directly with mentors from the organisations and devise a project proposal to Google, who issue a small stipend to successful applicants.
EMBL-EBI’s Genome Assembly and Annotation (GAA) section, which includes Ensembl, has been a GSoC mentor since 2016. The GAA is one of 198 open-source organisations who have undergone rigorous application and selection processes to ensure GSoC applicants, also referred to as contributors, are receiving the best possible mentorship for their projects. We are grateful that we have once again had the opportunity to work with Google and help contributors realise their projects. Every year we receive applications from candidates who want to learn more about writing open-source software. And as of 2022, Google has also welcomed applications not just from students, but anyone over the age of 18 with an interest in open-source software development.
Continue readingEnsembl 108 has been released!
We are pleased to announce the release of Ensembl 108, and the corresponding release of Ensembl Genomes 55 featuring changes in the human default tracks, new genomes in Ensembl Plants and Ensembl Metazoa, and the addition of mitochondrial annotation for Tasmanian devil.
Genome assemblies and annotation for many new species are also being continuously added to the Ensembl Rapid Release genome browser.
Continue readingGetting to know us: Aleena from Outreach
In this post, we are getting to know Aleena Mushtaq from the Outreach team, who are (interestingly) also in charge of the Ensembl blog! Aleena tells us of the diverse workload of an outreach officer, the public engagement programmes she is involved in, and what she does in her free-time.
Continue readingWhat’s coming in Ensembl release 108 / Ensembl Genomes 55?
Ensembl 108 and Ensembl Genomes 55 are expected to be released in September 2022. Check out what we are up to, although we cannot guarantee everything listed here will make it into the final release.
Continue readingGetting to know us: José from Genebuild
Meet JosĂ© MarĂa González PĂ©rez-Silva from the Genebuild team! JosĂ© describes his work at Ensembl, the experience he had during his university studies, and how he winds down when not surrounded by annotation data.
Continue readingGetting to know us: Ivana from Ensembl Compara
This month, we meet Ivana PiliĹľota, who joined the Ensembl Compara team in 2020. She tells us how her everyday work life looks like and what sparked her interest in bioinformatics.
Continue readingGetting to know us: Nuno from Ensembl Variation
We are reviving our Getting to know us blog series! First up is Nuno Agostinho, who joined the Variation team at the end of 2021. Here, we’ll get to know Nuno, what his role is, and how he became part of the Ensembl project.
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