Back in 2005 high throughput next generation sequencing entered the biomedical laboratories and most scientists were not equipped to handle such huge amounts of data. A group of researchers headed by Anton Nekrutenko from Penn State University started the Galaxy Project to supply computer power from servers of Penn State University to solve the many problems scientists encounter when they needed to analyze these large data sets.
The new version released earlier this month includes cloud computing. The big advantage of Galaxy Cloud is the almost unlimited computing power available and its large data-storage capacity. Using the Amazon Web Services cloud, researchers have the option of storing vast amounts of data in a secure location.
Anton Nekrutenko, an associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State University, had the following to say about the project:
Galaxy combines the power of existing genome-annotation databases with a simple Web portal to enable users to search remote resources, combine data from independent queries, and visualize the results. Galaxy also offers scientific transparency with the option of creating a public report of analyses. After a paper has been published, scientists in other labs can do studies in order to reproduce the results described.
Rather than run Galaxy on one’s own computer or use Penn State’s servers to access Galaxy, now a researcher can harness the power of the cloud, which allows almost unlimited computing power.
Press release: Galaxy DNA-Analysis Software is Now Available “in the Cloud”
Galaxy project and analyzing software…
Abstract in Nature Biotechnology: Harnessing cloud computing with Galaxy Cloud
