Welcome to the Biosupport web page

BIOINFO.hku.hk server will be retired on 28 Feb 2010. BIOINFO services will run on another server bioinfo1.hku.hk or smpserve.hku.hk

BIOSUPPORT project was ended by 31 March 2005. Some of the databases and tools were no longer available due to the limited supply of resources.

Note that the databases will progressively be transferred to the Beijing Genome Institute in Shenzhen (2010-present).

Bioinformatics is the science of developing computer databases and algorithms for the purpose of speeding up and enhancing biological research. It is now becoming a fast growing research area and a large number of bioinformatics databases and programs have been generated. As to meet the increasing demand of the availability of the bioinformatics software tools for sequence analysis from many high throughput functional genomics researches, BIOSUPPORT project is formed with collaboration between HKUCC (The University of Hong Kong Computer Centre),  HKU-Pasteur Research Centre and Centre de Ressources INFOBIOGEN (France), with the funding support from the Innovation and Technology Commission, HKSAR government.

With the knowledge and skill sharing from Centre de Ressources INFOBIOGEN (France), a computer system, BIOINFO, is implemented under the BIOSUPPORT project to:

  • provide comprehensive information technology facilities and services which are similar to Centre de Ressources INFOBIOGEN for supporting genetics and molecular biology research in Hong Kong region
  • provide integration of bioinformatics software package which are free to use
  • provide most up-to-date nucleotide and protein genetics databases which are updated from EMBnet nodes
  • provide user-friendly interface for user to access the genome databanks and bioinformatics software packages

Tools: You can find the bioinformatics software tools available on BIOINFO system
News:
 Information on updated and past news
GenoList:
 You can access several bacteria genome browser on this page
Database: You can find the up-to-date nucleotide and protein genetics databases available for access and download which is locally installed in BIOINFO system
FAQ: If you get problem on using or accessing BIOINFO service, please visit Frequently asked questions here for using this site and the BIOINFO system.
Documents: Information and instructions about the programs running on BIOINFO. Documentation of all available bioinformatics tools at HKU.
Hardware: Information on the BIOINFO server hardware configuration.
Links: URLs of major bioinformatics institutes and resources
Feedback: Please write to us if you want to give any comment, feedback or question about the services provided by BIOINFO
Acknowledgement and Disclaimer: Regarding any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this web page

The BIOINFO service is accessible via two modes:

1. Anonymous resources

BIOSUPPORT provides anonymous access to most of the resource at the Tools and Database for the academic and research community:
  • User can use the programs without registration or logging into the system.
  • Supports up to 2 CPU hours of job execution on the system
  • Users could select to receive the job results through email
  • Support on the general usage and technical problem through E-mail.

2. Enhanced services to the registered users

If you need more computational resources for your research, you could apply to register a regular account on the BIOINFO system to enjoy the following additional benefits:
  • Longer CPU execution time
  • Allow users to access a wider range of package and tools which run on command line mode and X-window interface such as Phrap/Phred/Consed and Staden
  • Allow execution of customized and personalized program written in C/Java/Perl/Fortran.
  • Allow access to up-to-date database by personal analysis program which should be useful for genomics and proteomics modeling and whole genome analysis.
  • Larger disk storage for users' own data