School of Medicine (Bioinformatics Program), University of Costa Rica, San Pedro de Montes de Oca, 2060 San José, Costa Rica. Tel.: +506-215448; Fax: +506-25114570;
Brief Bioinform. 2013 Sep;14(5):661-70. doi: 10.1093/bib/bbt033. Epub 2013 May 30.
Today, Bioinformatics has become a scientific discipline with great relevance for the Molecular Biosciences and for the Omics sciences in general. Although developed countries have progressed with large strides in Bioinformatics education and research, in other regions, such as Central America, the advances have occurred in a gradual way and with little support from the Academia, either at the undergraduate or graduate level. To address this problem, the University of Costa Rica's Medical School, a regional leader in Bioinformatics in Central America, has been conducting a series of Bioinformatics workshops, seminars and courses, leading to the creation of the region's first Bioinformatics Master's Degree. The recent creation of the Central American Bioinformatics Network (BioCANET), associated to the deployment of a supporting computational infrastructure (HPC Cluster) devoted to provide computing support for Molecular Biology in the region, is providing a foundational stone for the development of Bioinformatics in the area. Central American bioinformaticians have participated in the creation of as well as co-founded the Iberoamerican Bioinformatics Society (SOIBIO). In this article, we review the most recent activities in education and research in Bioinformatics from several regional institutions. These activities have resulted in further advances for Molecular Medicine, Agriculture and Biodiversity research in Costa Rica and the rest of the Central American countries. Finally, we provide summary information on the first Central America Bioinformatics International Congress, as well as the creation of the first Bioinformatics company (Indromics Bioinformatics), spin-off the Academy in Central America and the Caribbean.
如今，生物信息学已成为分子生物科学和组学科学领域中具有重要意义的一门学科。尽管发达国家在生物信息学教育和研究方面取得了长足的进步，但在中美洲等其他地区，这种进步是逐步实现的，而且学术界（无论是本科还是研究生水平）的支持都很少。为了解决这个问题，中美洲地区生物信息学的区域领导者哥斯达黎加大学医学院一直在举办一系列生物信息学研讨会、讲座和课程，从而创建了该地区第一个生物信息学硕士学位。最近成立的中美洲生物信息学网络（BioCANET），以及部署一个支持性的计算基础设施（高性能计算集群），致力于为该地区的分子生物学提供计算支持，为该地区的生物信息学发展奠定了基础。中美洲的生物信息学家参与并共同创立了伊比利亚美洲生物信息学学会（SOIBIO）。本文综述了来自多个地区机构的生物信息学教育和研究的最新活动。这些活动为哥斯达黎加和中美洲其他国家的分子医学、农业和生物多样性研究带来了进一步的进展。最后，我们提供了第一届中美洲生物信息学国际大会的总结信息，以及第一家生物信息学公司（Indromics Bioinformatics）的创建信息，该公司是中美洲和加勒比地区学术界的衍生企业。
