PAG-XIII (P883) BIRCH: A Network-Accessible Bioinformatics Platform

Plant & Animal Genomes XIII Conference

January 15-19, 2005
Town & Country Convention Center
San Diego, CA

P883 : Poster and Demo

BIRCH: A Network-Accessible Bioinformatics Platform

Department of Plant Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada R3T 2N2

BIRCH is an organizational framework for delivering biocomputing resources to a local user base. The core distribution of BIRCH includes software for analysis of DNA, protein, and molecular marker data. Most applications are accessible through the GDE graphic interface [Smith et al., 1994]. BIRCH currently supports Linux and Solaris. Important features include:

semi-automated installation and customization for each local system.

seamless integration of locally-installed software and databases into BIRCH

organization of BIRCH ensures that local customizations are not lost during updates

A framework of OS-independent datafiles, documentation and scripts is installed separately from OS-dependent binaries. At login time, BIRCH finds the correct binaries for the host's OS (eg. Solaris, Linux)

all components are freely-available software

scaleable from a single PC to a campus-wide server system

the user's complete desktop can be run from anywhere on the Internet through VNC clients.

Ideally, BIRCH is installed on a system with comprehensive desktop and office applications. The result is a seamless integration of specialized bioinformatics capabilities with routine office tasks on a single desktop. In contrast, Web-based applications are comparatively awkward to use and are intractable to the automation needed in large genomics projects. Because BIRCH is network-centric, any user can do any task from anywhere on the Internet. The network-centric model drastically simplifies system administration and lowers costs.

BIRCH Web site: http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~psgendb