On 3 July 2024, the Genomics of Gene Expression (GGE) Lab at I2SysBio (CSIC-UV) welcomed the winners of the Spanish Biology Olympiad. Tianyuan Liu and Fabian Jetzinger, Doctoral Candidates at I2SysBio and BioBam respectively, together with Alejandro Paniagua, PhD student at the GGE Lab (FPU fellowship), guided these talented young students through the lab and showed them what bioinformatics is all about.
Tianyuan and Fabian talked about fascinating topics such as single-cell sequencing and artificial intelligence, and showed the group some of the AI-based tools being developed in the lab. The students then got hands-on with PaintOmics, analysing multi-omics data and exploring complex biological pathways in databases such as KEGG. “Seeing how bioinformatics tools transform raw data into insights was eye-opening. It inspired me to think about a future in this field,” said one of them. Fabian added: “It’s great to share what we do with such enthusiastic students. They remind us why our work is so important.”
Inspiring the next generation
Ana Conesa, Coordinator of LongTREC and leader of the GGE Lab, highlighted the importance of inspiring future scientists: “We hope this visit sparked a passion for bioinformatics in these talented students.” The lab plans to organise more visits and workshops so that more young people can discover the wonders of genomics and bioinformatics. Who knows which future scientists were inspired that day!
