We specialize in next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies and genomics data science. We work closely with researchers from study design and conceptualisation to advanced data analysis. We regularly contribute to large-scale interdisciplinary research projects and develop data processing pipelines and tools for data exploration and visualisation. We are equipped with state-of-the-art computational infrastructure and have access to a comprehensive software repository. We train the next generation of bioinformaticians through our own research projects, specific courses and our Master program in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology.
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We are pleased to announce that Aparna Pandey from the IBU has been awarded the Max Burger Prize 2025, along with Josip Ahel and Michaela Schwaiger, in the framework of the Friedrich Miescher Institute (FMI) Science Prizes. Their award-winning research reveals how cells protect their DNA from “jumping genes,” known as retrotransposons. Aparna and her co-authors discovered that the protein complex ChAHP2 acts like a guardian, reading a chemical “off switch” on the DNA to turn off the most active, potentially dangerous retrotransposons. Together with another complex, ChAHP, it forms a two-part defense system that keeps a broad range of these genetic threats under control. According to the prize committee, this work adds a brilliant new piece to our understanding of how cells maintain genome integrity by keeping retrotransposons in check.
When science makes children's and adults' eyes light up, it's Nacht der Forschung at the University of Bern. We were there with our "Lego & Strawberries" project. Numerous children and adults joined us and were able to extract DNA from a berry smoothie using simple household items (salt, washing-up liquid, coffee filters, etc.). And what do you do with such DNA? You run it through the Lego sequencer and see which fruit the DNA matches.
Congratulations, dear Laura! Laura R. Voitl, PhD student from the Livestock Genetics team at the Institute of Genetics, which collaborates with the Interfaculty Bioinformatics Unit (IBU), won a prize for her poster at the Basel Computational Biology Conference (BC2) on September 10, 2025. The prize was awarded for her contribution to the National Science Foundation study entitled "Identifying Genetic Variants for a Mendelian Trait using Long Read Sequencing in Three Domestic Animal Species", which she conducted together with Anna Letko, Rémy Bruggmann and Cord Drögemüller.
November 11, 2025
09:15 − 11:00
UniS, Raum A-122
Baltzerstrasse 6 3012 Bern
Phone: +41 31 684 48 99
