InCoB2012 Conference : from biological data to knowledge to technological breakthroughs

Ten years ago when Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network held the first International Conference on Bioinformatics(InCoB) in Bangkok its theme was North-South Networking. At that time InCoB aimed to provide biologists andbioinformatics researchers in the Asia-Pacific region a forum to meet, interact with, and disseminate knowledgeabout the burgeoning field of bioinformatics. Meanwhile InCoB has evolved into a major regional bioinformaticsconference that attracts not only talented and established scientists from the region but increasingly also from EastAsia, North America and Europe. Since 2006 InCoB yielded 114 articles in BMC Bioinformatics supplement issues that have been cited nearly 1,000 times to date. In part, these developments reflect the success of bioinformatics education and continuous efforts to integrate and utilize bioinformatics in biotechnology and biosciences in the Asia-Pacific region. A cross-section of research leading from biological data to knowledge and to technological applications, the InCoB2012 theme, is introduced in this editorial. Other highlights included sessions organized bythe Pan-Asian Pacific Genome Initiative and a Machine Learning in Immunology competition. InCoB2013 is scheduled for September 18-21, 2013 at Suzhou, China.6 page(s