Being an interdisciplinary field, Computational biology and bioinformatics develops and applies computational methods to analyse large amount of biological data, such as genetic sequences, cell populations or protein samples, to make novel predictions or discoveries in  biology. The computational methods used include analytical methods, mathematical modelling and simulation.

The feasibility in systematic data collection by genomics and proteomics technologies has greatly widened the gap between the available data and their biological interpretation. Direct individual testing won’t be able to close this gap given the volume of data collection. Thus the  crucial means of bridging this gap is provided by computational and theoretical approaches to understanding biological systems. These tasks include computer modelling of biological processes, computational administration of large-scale projects, database building and data mining, algorithm development and high-performance computing, as well as statistical and mathematical analysis.

The bioinformatics and computational biology team of our centre aim to discover and disclose genetic interactions in organisms, molecular simulations for novel drug discovery, application of molecular systematics toward conservation of marine resources and in silico approaches for revealing the complex biological reactions.   

Opening of Bioinformatics Facility by Prof. K. Poulose Jacob, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Cochin University of Science and Technology in the presence ofProf. I.S. Bright Singh, Project Director (India)and Prof. William H. Gerwick, Centre for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, USA (Project Director, USA)

Recent Updates

• Molecular identification and characterization of endophytic and associated of nitrogen fixing bacteria associated with red macroalga Kappaphycus alvarezzii using 16S rRNA and nifH gene sequencing and could identify 21 potential bacterial isolates.
• Genomic insights into symbiosis and host adaptation of an ascidian-associated bacterium Bacillus aryabhattai MCCB 387 was studied and a paper was published.
• ‘Systems and Computational Biology’was taught as a course as a part of M.Tech. Marine Biotechnology programme to14 students (2021-2022) sponsored by DBT. Strong foundation in Bioinformatics, Systems and Computational biology was laid through problem oriented approaches for skill development, in order to facilitate finding answers to questions in marine biotechnology.
• Training on bioinformatics and computational biology (2021-2022) was provided to 227 candidates at various levels such as 44 at Graduate level, 144 at Postgraduate and PhD levels, 25 at Postdoctoral and Faculty levels and 14 at Higher Secondary School level.
• Under the synthetic biology component, a CVJ Centre for Metabolic Engineering and Synthetic Biology (CMESB) sponsored by M/s Synthite Group of Industries, Kerala is getting established at the University, which will be working closely with DBT-Bioinformatics Centre.