This article is part of the supplement: APBioNet – Fifth International Conference on Bioinformatics (InCoB2006)
Introduction
Establishing bioinformatics research in the Asia Pacific
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* Corresponding author: Shoba Ranganathan shoba@els.mq.edu.au
1 Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Research Institute, Macquarie University, Sydney NSW 2109, Australia
2 Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 8 Medical Drive, Singapore 117597, Singapore
3 Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore
4 Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, Lilly Hall of Life Sciences 915 W. State Street, West Lafayette, IN47907-2054, USA
BMC Bioinformatics 2006, 7(Suppl 5):S1 doi:10.1186/1471-2105-7-S5-S1
Published: 18 December 2006Abstract
In 1998, the Asia Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNet), Asia's oldest bioinformatics organisation was set up to champion the advancement of bioinformatics in the Asia Pacific. By 2002, APBioNet was able to gain sufficient critical mass to initiate the first International Conference on Bioinformatics (InCoB) bringing together scientists working in the field of bioinformatics in the region. This year, the InCoB2006 Conference was organized as the 5th annual conference of the Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network, on Dec. 18–20, 2006 in New Delhi, India, following a series of successful events in Bangkok (Thailand), Penang (Malaysia), Auckland (New Zealand) and Busan (South Korea). This Introduction provides a brief overview of the peer-reviewed manuscripts accepted for publication in this Supplement. It exemplifies a typical snapshot of the growing research excellence in bioinformatics of the region as we embark on a trajectory of establishing a solid bioinformatics research culture in the Asia Pacific that is able to contribute fully to the global bioinformatics community.