ARB software training course in Germany (November 2006)

Dr. Wolfram Brück, Project Manager at CAMBio, Mr. Aaron Maloy, Research Technician and Susan Heaney, IRCSET postgraduate researcher at CAMBio recently attended a one-week ARB training course in Bremen, Germany.

ARB software was developed by the prestigious Max Planck Institute and is available for use by research groups from around the world. Training in the use of the software programme, which is Linux-based, is provided by a spin-out company, Ribocon. The software is designed for the development of DNA molecular probes, for searching for DNA sequence matches, for investigating similarities between species and for understanding the degree of similarity between different organisms and strains. The intensive training course ran from 9.00am to 7.00 pm throughout the week and three exhausted researchers returned to CAMBio in late November.

Already a high specification PC with the capability of running the Linux software and 4GB of RAM has been installed in CAMBio to facilitate molecular probe design. Having the software available and personnel trained in its use will facilitate the design of molecular probes for other marine research projects.