Next Generation Sequencing Approaches in Biology

Dear Colleagues,

New fast and cheap DNA sequencing technologies from an increasing number of different platforms have forwarded biological research applications such as the sequencing of new genomes, the resequencing of individuals' genomes and the analysis of gene expression. While only in the last decade a single genome sequencing project used to keep a large consortium busy for years, now many sequencing projects target dozens, hundreds or even thousands of genomes in a single undertaking. The new technology also promises to make medicine more individual and enhance the understanding of the genotype's influence on diseases and traits. However, next generation sequencing technologies also bring new challenges, such as the requirement of more efficient mapping and assembly algorithms, the necessity to deal with shorter reads or with reads that have a higher error rate. Other challenges in distributed computing arise from the much larger data sizes. This special issue will cover original research papers on bioinformatical and statistical methods that make use of next generation sequencing. The submission of reviews is also welcomed.

Prof. Dr. Mario Stanke
Guest Editor