March 19, 2003

New drugs, 'green' chemicals, more productive animals and superior crops are just some of the outcomes expected from Australia's largest dedicated bioinformatics computer cluster launched today by the Minister for Science, the Hon Peter McGauran MP.

Based in Canberra, CSIRO's Bioinformatics Facility (CBF) is a computer cluster that will be used for a range of research tasks from screening chemical compounds to identify potential pharmaceutical drugs through to identifying plant and animal genes to improve sustainable agricultural production.

"Bioinformatics, or the storage and analysis of biological information such as plant genes, is central to much of CSIRO's research," says CSIRO's Dr Liz Dennis, Joint Director of the CBF with Dr Peter Willadsen, CSIRO.

"The CBF will provide for much more efficient management of information on genes and other biological resources thereby enabling CSIRO researchers across Australia to share data and speed up analysis," says Dr Dennis.

The CBF will also facilitate projects to: develop medical diagnosis and prevention strategies using the human genome; identify genes to help with environmentally sound control of pests like rabbits and certain insects; improve production of environmentally safe chemicals; and, study the genomes of animals.

"Thanks to the collaborative efforts of twelve CSIRO Divisions, the CBF has become a multi-functional tool capable of meeting a diverse array of research requirements," says Dr Dennis.

"CSIRO has made a significant investment into bioinformatics under its Biotechnology Strategy, to build on CSIRO's strengths across the breadth of its research."

The CBF is the first to use Dell's new blade or 'mini-server' technology, which allows the CBF to manage data through individual blades talking to each other at high speed. In total, 66 blades are networked together in a cluster configuration, which deliver a processing capability equivalent to more than 130 desktop computers.

"This will allow us to generate information and use it for practical outcomes faster than we have ever been able to before," says Dr Dennis.

More information on CSIRO's Bioinformatics Facility available at www.csiro.au/cbf