This article is part of the supplement: APBioNet – Fifth International Conference on Bioinformatics (InCoB2006) .

Introduction

Establishing bioinformatics research in the Asia Pacific

Shoba Ranganathan^1,2 , Martti Tammi^3,2 , Michael Gribskov⁴ and Tin Wee Tan²

¹Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Research Institute, Macquarie University, Sydney NSW 2109, Australia

²Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 8 Medical Drive, Singapore 117597, Singapore

³Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Singapore

⁴Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, Lilly Hall of Life Sciences 915 W. State Street, West Lafayette, IN47907-2054, USA

author email corresponding author email

from International Conference in Bioinformatics – InCoB2006
New Delhi, India. 18–20 December 2006

BMC Bioinformatics 2006, 7(Suppl 5):S1doi:10.1186/1471-2105-7-S5-S1

Published:	18 December 2006

Abstract

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 5^th 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.