Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!watmath!iuvax!bionet!phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk!MJB1
From: MJB1@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk
Newsgroups: bionet.sci-resources
Subject: MBCRU established
Message-ID: <9FD5A4465D691800@UK.AC.CAM.PHX>
Date: 7 Feb 89 10:28:12 GMT
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             University of Cambridge Computing Service
             Molecular Biology Computing Research Unit

A Molecular Biology Computing Research Unit (MBCRU) has been established
by the Director of the University of Cambridge Computing Service,
Dr. D.F.Hartley.  This has been made possible by a generous donation of
12 Sun 4/110 workstations by Sun Microsystems.  The workstations are
being distributed, 6 in Biological Departments in the City Centre and
6 at the Addenbrookes Hospital Site. A Management Committee is being established
for MBCRU and the Manager is Dr. M.J.Bishop.
   Future plans include the installation of fileservers on the City and
Hospital sites with X.25 access to the Hospital machine for mail, file-transfer
and terminal sessions (funding obtained), linking all machines by ethernet
(funding largely obtained), and appointing a computer officer to maintain
the fileservers, workstations and network, install molecular biology software
and databases, and help users with programming (funding not yet obtained).
   The object in establishing MBCRU was to provide a suitable environment
to exploit software developments from the US and to encourage the development
of portable Unix based software for molecular biology in Cambridge.
This complements the existing facilities under VAX/VMS.
   Distribution of the twelve workstations and project titles are as follows:
In the City
Biochemistry
 Howe & Henderson         Protein transport and processing
 Laue                     Nmr studies of protein structure
Botany
 Gray                     Structure prediction of membrane proteins
Genetics
 Dover                    New genetic processes
 Evans                    Mouse genetics
Zoology
 Friday                   Estimation of evolutionary trees
At the Hospital
Medicine
 Borysiewicz              Immunology of virus infection
MRC Laboratory of
Molecular Biology
 Horsnell                 Image reconstruction and molecular structure
 Staden                   Sequence analysis
MRC Molecular
Genetics Unit
 Bishop & Brenner         Physical mapping
 Bishop & Brenner         Sequence comparison
Pathology (Clinical
Genetics)
 Ferguson-Smith & Yates   Gene mapping

   The initiative is a pump-priming exercise and if the project is successful
it is intended in due course to pass control of the Unit from the Computing
Service to a suitable biological or clinical department.

                                                             M.J.Bishop
                                                             6 February 1989