From owner-genome-program@net.bio.net Thu Mar 04 22:00:00 1999 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: rollin@writeme.com Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.genome-program Subject: '99 ISAAST. Date: 5 Mar 1999 12:04:33 -0800 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 54 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: k76@ornl.gov Distribution: world Message-ID: <2F58D6C2.6BFF2802@writeme.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net '99 International Symposium on Aging and Antiaging Science & Technology (with EXHIBITION) September 8-12, 1999 Beijing, China Scientific Sessions 1. Biological Science 2. Clinical & Experimental Medicine 3. Health Care for the Elderly 4. Traditional Chinese Medicine in Aging & Antiaging Exhibition The companies engaged in producing the instruments or reagents that may facilitate the antiaging researches are welcomed and encouraged to exhibit their high-tech products. For whose interested in the exhibition, please contact us at your earliest convenience. Sponsor Antiaging Science & Technology Society£¬ Gerontological Society of China Organizers Antiaging Science & Technology Society , Gerontological Society of China China International Symposium Center for Sciences and Technology (CICCST) Co-Organizer BILONG Institute for Transgenic Animals in Beijing (BITAB) Supporters Gerontological Society of China Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of medical Sciences Beijing Hospital and Gerontological Research Institute (to be continued) Contact: ********************************************************* BILONG Academic Events Add: 8 Nan Er Jie, Zhong Guan Cun, Beijing 100080, China Box: P.O. Box 8734, Beijing 100080, China Tel: 86-10-6256-0561, 6256-2226 Ext 211, 800-810-0797 Fax: 86-10-6253-2114 Email: BAE@bilong.com ********************************************************* ------- End of Forwarded Message From owner-genome-program@net.bio.net Thu Mar 04 22:00:00 1999 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: Neel / Cameron Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.genome-program Subject: Re: Web site for students Date: 5 Mar 1999 12:04:33 -0800 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 13 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: k76@ornl.gov Distribution: world Message-ID: References: <36D31E9A.2604AC6E@rvik.ismennt.is> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ is a great sight. Sigurborg Matthiasdottir wrote in message <36D31E9A.2604AC6E@rvik.ismennt.is>... >Do you know of a good site about the human genome project for 17 - 18 >year old students. > > >Sigurborg biology teacher > > ------- End of Forwarded Message From owner-genome-program@net.bio.net Thu Mar 11 22:00:00 1999 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: fkunst@pasteur.fr (Frank Kunst) (by way of Mark Pallen) Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.genome-program Subject: Genomes 2000 Conference Date: 12 Mar 1999 07:29:00 -0800 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 81 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: k76@ornl.gov Distribution: world Message-ID: <7cbbrs$70g@net.bio.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net Ref: Genomes 2000, International Conference on Microbial and Model Genomes Dear colleagues, We are pleased to inform you that we organize at the Institut Pasteur, in cooperation with the American Society for Microbiology, a conference on genome sequencing, functional analysis and bio-informatics (Paris, April 11-15, 2000) You will find preliminary information on this conference on the web site of our laboratory (Genomics of Microbial Pathogens): http://www.pasteur.fr/units/Gmp/ IMPORTANT:IF YOU (OR ONE OF YOUR COLLABORATORS) WISH TO RECEIVE INFORMATION ON THIS CONFERENCE, PLEASE FILL IN THE MAILING LIST FORM ON OUR WEB SITE. An announcement of the conference is also made on the ASM web site: http://www.asmusa.org/ Thirty speakers have already accepted our invitation, and thirty additional speakers are expected to be selected on the basis of abstracts to be sent. List of speakers who have accepted our invitation: Andersson, Siv, Uppsala University Bairoch, Amos, University of Geneva Beck, Stephan, The Sanger Centre Benner, Steven, University of Florida Bork, Peer, EMBL Cole, Stewart, Institut Pasteur Cossart, Pascale, Institut Pasteur Coulson, Alan, The Sanger Centre Doolittle, Russell F., UCSD Ehrlich, Dusko, INRA, France Fraser, Claire, TIGR Green, Phil, University of Washington Hoheisel, Jörg, Molecular-Genetic Genome Analysis Holden, David W., Imperial School of Medicine Isono, Katsumi, Kobe University Kanehisa, Minoru, Kyoto University Kim, Sung-Hou, University of California, Berkeley Mekalanos, John J., Harvard Medical School Miller, Jeffrey, UCLA Myers, Gene, Celera Genomics Ogasawara, Noatake, Nara Institut of Sciences and Technology Oliver, Steven, UMIST Overbeek, Ross, Argonne National Laboratory Peitsch, Manuel C., Glaxo Wellcome Experimental Research Radman, Miroslav, Institut Jacques Monod Sasaki, Takuji, National Institute of Agrobiological Resources Selkov, Evgeni, Argonne National Laboratory Venter, J. Craig, Celera Genomics Weinstock, George, University of Texas Weissenbach, Jean, Genoscope We sincerely hope that you will be able to attend this meeting. I would also be grateful to you if you could inform colleagues who may also be interested in this meeting. Yours sincerely, Frank Kunst ------------------------------------- Institut Pasteur Laboratoire de Genomique des Microorganismes Pathogenes Departement de Biologie Moleculaire 25, rue du Dr Roux 75724 Paris Cedex 15 Tel: 33 1 45 68 88 69 Fax: 33 1 45 68 87 86 URL: http://www.pasteur.fr/units/Gmp/ ------------------------------------- From owner-genome-program@net.bio.net Thu Mar 11 22:00:00 1999 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: Mark Pallen Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.genome-program Subject: URLs from the TIGR Microbial Genomes III meeting Date: 12 Mar 1999 07:30:55 -0800 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 198 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: k76@ornl.gov Distribution: world Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net List readers! Prompted by Betty Mansfield, please allow me to post a selection of URLs pointing at projects and resources mentioned at the TIGR Microbial Genomes III meeting. The list is not exhaustive and for more information look out for my review of the meeting which will be appearing in Molecular Microbiology in a few issues time, or take a look at Microbial and Comparative Genomics Vol 3, no. 4, which contains abstracts of the meeting. Cheers Mark ******************************************************** Dr Mark Pallen, Senior Lecturer in Medical Microbiology, St Bartholomew's and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, EC1A 7BE email:m.pallen@qmw.ac.uk WWW: http://www.medmicro.mds.qmw.ac.uk/~mpallen phone: day ++44(0)1716018414, eves ++44(0)1438869477, FAX ++44(0)1716018409 ******************************************************** A Selection of the Genome Projects discussed at Microbial Genomes III Chantilly, Virginia January 29-February 1, 1999 Organized by www.tigr.org For reasons of space, only a selection of microbial genomes is listed. Fuller lists of microbial genome projects, both in progress and completed, can be found on http://www-fp.mcs.anl.gov/~gaasterland/genomes.html (at the time of writing listing 65 procarytotic genome projects) and http://www.tigr.org/tdb/mdb/mdb.html. Background information on organisms being sequenced can be found on http://www.er.doe.gov/production/ober/EPR/mig_top.html and http://www.ncgr.org/microbe/ Saccharomyces cerevisiae http://genome-www.stanford.edu/Saccharomyces/ http://speedy.mips.biochem.mpg.de/mips/yeast/yeast_genome.htmlx Escherichia coli K12 http://www.genetics.wisc.edu:80/index.html http://arep.med.harvard.edu/ Bacillus subtilis http://www.pasteur.fr/Bio/SubtiList.html Comparative genomics Helicobacter pylori 26695 http://www.tigr.org/tdb/mdb/hpdb/hp_bg.html Helicobacter pylori J99 http://www.astra-boston.com/hpylori/ Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv http://www.sanger.ac.uk/Projects/M_tuberculosis/ Mycobacterium tuberculosis CDC1551 http://www.tigr.org/tdb/mdb/mdb.html Pyrocococcus furiosus http://www.genome.utah.edu/sequence.html http://comb5-156.umbi.umd.edu/bags.html Pyrococcus horikoshii http://www.bio.nite.go.jp/E-home/ot3db-e.html Pyrococcus abyssi http://www.genoscope.cns.fr/externe/English/Projet/Projet_B/B.shtml Selected microbial genomes in progress at the Sanger Centre Candida albicans, Campylobacter jejuni, Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A, Streptomyces coelicolor, Dictyostelium discoideum, Leishmania major, Plasmodium falciparum, Trypanosoma brucei http://www.sanger.ac.uk/Projects/Microbes/ http://www.sanger.ac.uk/Projects/Protozoa/ http://www.sanger.ac.uk/Projects/C_albicans/ Selected microbial genomes in progress at TIGR Shewenella putrefaciens, Deinococcus radiodurans, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio cholerae, Streptococcus pneumoniae Type 4, Thermotoga maritima, Plasmodium falciparum http://www.tigr.org/tdb/mdb/mdb.html http://www.tigr.org/cgi-bin/BlastSearch/blast.cgi? Table 2 Databases and other on-line resources discussed at Microbial Genomes III Readers interested in microbial genomics might also be interested in joining the Microbial Genomes mailing list: http://www.medmicro.mds.qmw.ac.uk/microbial-genomes/ Yeast Proteome Database http://www.proteome.com/YPDhome.html EUROSCARF http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/FB/fb16/mikro/euroscarf MICADO http://locus.jouy.inra.fr/micado STD Sequence Databases http://www.stdgen.lanl.gov/ Stanford center for TB research: Free Software http://molepi.stanford.edu/free_software.html The EpiMatrix Website (epitope prediction) http://www.hunger.brown.edu/Research/TB-HIV_Lab/EpiMatrix/epimatrix.html Church Lab WWW site http://arep.med.harvard.edu/ Sulfonics "Master Catalog" http://www.sulfonics.com/technologies-bioinformatics.htm Genome Annotation Consortium http://grail.lsd.ornl.gov/gac/ Intrez and related projects http://mork.mshri.on.ca/index.html Genome Browsers for Bacterial Pathogens http://www.medmicro.mds.qmw.ac.uk/genomes Microbial Genomes at NCBI http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Entrez/Genome/org.html http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST/unfinishedgenome.html Mark ******************************************************** Dr Mark Pallen, Senior Lecturer in Medical Microbiology, St Bartholomew's and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, EC1A 7BE email:m.pallen@qmw.ac.uk WWW: http://www.medmicro.mds.qmw.ac.uk/~mpallen phone: day ++44(0)1716018414, eves ++44(0)1438869477, FAX ++44(0)1716018409 ******************************************************** "Give me an ounce of fact and I will produce you a ton of theory by tea this afternoon" Ray Bradbury ******************************************************** From owner-genome-program@net.bio.net Thu Mar 11 22:00:00 1999 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.genome-program Subject: 13th International Mouse Genome Conference Date: 12 Mar 1999 07:33:44 -0800 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 46 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: k76@ornl.gov Distribution: world Message-ID: <4.1.19990310103753.00aa7ef0@b.email.cind.ornl.gov> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net ------- Forwarded Message Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 13:19:26 -0400 From: Darla Miller Subject: 13th International Mouse Genome Conference From Darla Miller: The 13th International Mouse Genome Conference will be held at the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel in Philadelphia, PA Oct. 31- Nov. 3, 1999. Registration and abstract deadline is July 15, 1999. Sessions will include Genomics and sequencing; Chromosome structure and epigenetics; Gene discovery and mutation analysis; Developmental genetics; Quantitative inheritance and multigenic traits; Bioinformatics. New this year-- on Monday afternoon (November 1) there will be a symposium on Genome Sequencing and Comparative Sequence Analysis, sponsored by University of Pennsylvania. The program will be developed by a committee chaired by Maja Bucan, Marisa Bartolomei, Arthur Buchberg, Linda Siracusa and Kent Hunter. Members of the Delaware Valley Mouse club will participate in the organization of the meeting. Please see the web site at: http://mcbio.med.buffalo.edu/imgc13/imgc.html for further information and registration materials. Questions can be addressed to Darla Miller at: dmiller@mcbio.med.buffalo.edu __ __ / \ / \ Darla Miller ( _""_ ) Department of Molecular and Cell Biology - o o - Roswell Park Cancer Institute \ / Elm and Carlton Streets ===\ /=== Buffalo, NY 14263 O phone (716) 845-4390 fax (716) 845-8169 email dmiller@mcbio.med.buffalo.edu For information on the 13th International Mouse Genome Conference in Philadelphia please see http://mcbio.med.buffalo.edu/imgc13/imgc.html For information on joining the International Mammalian Genome Society please see http://mcbio.med.buffalo.edu/imgs/imgs.html From owner-genome-program@net.bio.net Thu Mar 11 22:00:00 1999 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: "Pomicter, Carolyn (NHGRI)" Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.genome-program Subject: Funding Opportunity: Technologies for Generation of Full-Length Date: 12 Mar 1999 07:38:09 -0800 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 36 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: k76@ornl.gov Distribution: world Message-ID: <0FA44B6A6130D2119B1D00805FEA9902E0FAAA@nihexchange5.nih.gov> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net TECHNOLOGIES FOR GENERATION OF FULL-LENGTH MAMMALIAN cDNA Release Date: March 5, 1999 RFA NUMBER: RFA-CA-99-005 Letter of Intent Receipt Date: April 6, 1999 Application Receipt Date: May 13, 1999 In an effort to provide the research community with high quality, full-length mammalian cDNA clones and sequences, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has established the Full-Length cDNA Initiative, managed by a trans-NIH steering committee. Ultimately, the clones and sequences produced through this initiative will provide a "gold standard" set of reagents for use by the research community. This Request for Application (RFA) targets one component of the initiative: cDNA cloning technology development. The purpose of this RFA is to support the development of technologies that will facilitate the generation of a complete set of full-length human cDNAs as well as other mammalian cDNAs. Current methods of cDNA clone and library production favor shorter, more heavily represented genes. In addition, although current methodology for isolating mRNA for use in cDNA construction works well with cell lines, reliable methodologies for extraction of high quality mRNA from tissues remains a challenge. Use of human tissues may be necessary to achieve the goal of a complete set of human cDNA clones. Finally, reliable, high-throughput methods to determine whether clones contain a copy of the full transcript, the full coding region, or a partial transcript are needed. This RFA is intended to support innovative research projects aimed at solving one or more of the problems currently associated with the production of a complete set of full-length human cDNA clones and full-length cDNA clones from other mammals. Additional information about the RFA can be found at: http://www.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-CA-99-005.html From owner-genome-program@net.bio.net Mon Mar 15 22:00:00 1999 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: "Pomicter, Carolyn (NHGRI)" Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.genome-program Subject: Funding Opportunity: Rat Genome Database Date: 16 Mar 1999 14:20:55 -0800 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 18 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: k76@ornl.gov Distribution: world Message-ID: <7cmlg7$ips@net.bio.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net RAT GENOME DATABASE Release Date: March 5, 1999 RFA: HL-99-013 Letter of Intent Receipt Date: April 1, 1999 Application Receipt Date: April 26, 1999 In response to the recommendations of the Rat Genome Advisory Committee and the Report of the NIH Model Organism Database Workshop (http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/) the NIH proposes to establish a Rat Genome Database (RGDB). The objective of this RFA is to establish a database that will collect, consolidate, and integrate data generated from ongoing rat genetic, genomic, and related research efforts, and to make these data widely available to the scientific community. Full text of the announcement is available at: http://www.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-HL-99-013.html. From owner-genome-program@net.bio.net Mon Mar 15 22:00:00 1999 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: Betty K Mansfield Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.genome-program Subject: New Sequencing Awards, New Timetable for "Working Draft" of the Human Date: 16 Mar 1999 15:01:04 -0800 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 150 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: k76@ornl.gov Distribution: world Message-ID: <4.1.19990316171407.00c06620@b.email.cind.ornl.gov> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net > > Human Genome Project Announces Successful Completion of Pilot Project, > Launches large-scale Effort to Sequence the Human Genome with New Awards, > Accelerated Timetable > > The international Human Genome Project today announced the successful > completion of the pilot phase of sequencing the human genome and the launch > of the full scale effort to sequence all 3 billion letters (referred to as > bases) that make up the human DNA instruction book. Based on experience > gained from the pilot projects, an international consortium now predicts they > will produce at least 90 percent of the human genome sequence in a "working > draft" form by the spring of 2000, considerably earlier than expected. > > "I am extremely pleased that the Human Genome Project has accelerated efforts > to complete one of the most important scientific projects in human history - > unlocking the secrets of the genetic code. The Project will forever change > how we understand the human body and disease, leading to improved prevention, > treatments, and cures for what are currently medical mysteries," said Vice > President Al Gore. "Specifically, I am thrilled that we are moving into full > scale sequencing and are on track to complete a working draft of the human > genome a year and half ahead of schedule. I want to commend the scientists > that have dedicated themselves to moving forward on this project that will > improve health care for millions of Americans," Gore said. > > The international consortium currently includes three U.S. laboratories > funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the > National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Joint Genome Institute of the U.S. > Department of Energy (DOE), and the Sanger Centre supported in the United > Kingdom by the Wellcome Trust. > > The initiation of the full scale sequencing effort is based on the success of > pilot projects that began three years ago to test new technologies and > strategies for sequencing the large and complex human genome. In the pilot > phase, eight scientific teams supported by NHGRI, DOE and international > collaborators completed the sequence of over 480 million bases, of which 260 > million (or close to 10 percent of the human genome) are in high-quality > finished form. The finished sequence produced by the pilot projects met or > exceeded the international accuracy standard of no more than 1 error in > 10,000 bases. In fact, the most recent assessment showed that leading > sequencers are ten times more accurate than that, producing fewer than 10 > errors for every million bases sequenced. Pilot project participants also > drove down the cost of sequencing to an average of 20 - 30 cents per base > today. > > To kick off the full scale sequencing phase, the NHGRI and the Wellcome Trust > today announced awards to four sequencing groups. NHGRI is awarding new > grants totaling $81.6 million to three U.S. academic sequencing groups at the > Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, MA; Washington University School of > Medicine in St. Louis, MO; and the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. > The Wellcome Trust announced that they are adjusting their funding of the > Sanger Centre to make available approximately US $77 million for human DNA > sequencing over the next 12 months. > > "This joint initiative marks a major expansion of the collaborative spirit of > the international sequencing effort, with the goal of completing the sequence > of the 3 billion bases of human DNA as soon as possible," said Francis S. > Collins, director of the NHGRI. > > The consortium's goal is to produce a working draft covering at least 90 > percent of human genome sequence within one year. The sequencing strategy > involves determination of the sequence from mapped segments of DNA from known > locations in the genome. These data are then assembled in overlapping > stretches that reflect the accurate orientation of the DNA in the genome. In > plans drawn up last fall, Genome Project leaders projected completing the > working draft by December 2001. The new consortium goal advances this > timetable by more than a year and a half. The working draft will then serve > as the scaffold for the painstaking but critical work of finishing, which > involves closing gaps and correcting errors, leading to completion of the > permanent high-quality, human DNA sequence by 2003 at the latest. > > The five largest sequencing laboratories have joined together in a tightly > knit collaboration with weekly meetings, shared materials, and shared > protocols. The NHGRI funded laboratories will be responsible for producing > approximately 60 percent of working draft sequence. DOE's Joint Genome > Institute and the Sanger Centre will be responsible for producing > approximately 10 percent and 33 percent respectively. "As one of the founders > of the Human Genome Project, the Department of Energy is gratified to see the > launch of the final stage of this project that promises such benefit to > humanity," said Under Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz. > > The NHGRI and its international partners are committed to releasing DNA > sequence into public databases for free access within 24 hours. The rapid > public availability of the sequence will be invaluable to researchers > studying the molecular basis of human health and disease. Thus, the > information will be available immediately to the vast number of corporate > researchers engaged in drug development, as well as academic scientists > answering critical questions through basic biomedical research. Michael > Morgan, Chief Executive of the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, said: "Through > this major publicly funded effort we can ensure that sequence data remains in > the public domain for access by all researchers for the development of future > healthcare treatments. This is crucial for the real medical benefits to be > realized efficiently." > > The sequencing effort is also designed so it can take advantage of any > sequencing work done in the private sector. This may allow completion of the > final sequence far sooner than 2003. "The Human Genome Project looks forward > enthusiastically to cooperating with all parties that can contribute to more > rapid public availability of the human genome sequence," said Collins. > > Besides sequencing human DNA, Genome Project researchers are developing new > sequencing technologies and conducting studies of human genetic variation, > genomic function, and genomic analysis of model organisms. Scientists can use > these tools to help them "read" the information coded in the DNA sequence, > which will help them understand human illnesses and, ultimately, to find > dramatically new treatments and cures. In addition to these goals, the HGP > will continue to vigorously support research on the ethical, legal, and > social implications (ELSI) of genome analysis. > > The three new NHGRI awards were based on a peer review process that evaluated > the largest of the pilot projects, those that had completed 15 million bases > of high-quality, finished sequence by December 1998. NHGRI will review > additional applications in March and plans to award additional funds for > large-scale human DNA sequence production in May. > > > > For more information, contact: > > NHGRI, Sharon Durham, 301-402-0911 > Whitehead Institute, Eve Nichols or Seema Kumar, 617-258-5183 > Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Linda Sage, > 314-286-0119 > Baylor College of Medicine, B.J. Almond, 713-798-7971 > Department of Energy, Jeff Sherwood, 202-586-5806 > Wellcome Trust, Noorece Ahmed, 44 171 611-8540 (United Kingdom) > Sanger Centre, Jane Rogers, 44 122 383-4244 (United Kingdom) > > Web location of this press release: http://www.nhgri.nih.gov/NEWS/pilot_project_completion.html For more information on the DOE and NIH Human Genome Project Five Year Plan, see: http://www.ornl.gov/hgmis/hg5yp Betty K. Mansfield, Managing editor, Human Genome News Oak Ridge National Laboratory Voice: 423/576-6669 1060 Commerce Park Fax: 423/574-9888 Oak Ridge, TN 37830 E-mail: bkq@ornl.gov http://www.ornl.gov/hgmis http://www.ornl.gov/TechResources/Human_Genome/research.html http://www.ornl.gov/hgmis/resource/medicine.html Sponsor: U.S. Department of Energy Human Genome Program From owner-genome-program@net.bio.net Thu Mar 25 22:00:00 1999 Path: biosci!biosci!not-for-mail From: BIOSCI Administrator Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.genome-program Subject: BIOSCI/bionet miniFAQ & Fundraiser Date: 25 Mar 1999 17:17:51 -0800 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 234 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Approved: k76@ornl.gov Distribution: world Message-ID: <199903191000.CAA28071@net.bio.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net (LAST REVISION: 30-JUL-95) This BIOSCI "miniFAQ" is designed to answer the questions that come up the *most frequently*. The main BIOSCI FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) is accessible on the World Wide Web at URL http://www.bio.net/. If you can not find an answer to your question in this or other documentation, the BIOSCI technical support staff answers e-mail queries sent to biosci-help@net.bio.net We can only answer questions about the use of the newsgroups and mailing lists. We unfortunately do not have the staff to do Internet information searches or answer scientific questions. Please post those to the appropriate BIOSCI/bionet newsgroups. Contents: -------- 0) BIOSCI NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!! 1) Using the WWW to access the BIOSCI/bionet newsgroups. 2) What to do about "spams," i.e., junk mail, ads, etc. 3) Examples of subscribing and unsubscribing to the mailing lists. 4) The BIOSCI user address and research interest directory. 0) BIOSCI NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!! ------------------------------ BIOSCI's government funding has been expended, and we are now operating solely from advertising revenue that we have raised from our Web site at http://www.bio.net/. We need just a few minutes of your time to help us serve you. You can do two important things which will take very little time for you individually and will immensely help us continue to help you. First, please use our WWW system at http://www.bio.net/ to access the archives. You can post or reply to messages via your Web browser as described in item #1 below. Your usage helps attract sponsors. If you contact any of our sponsors, please be sure to thank them for supporting BIOSCI. It is critical for them to get this feedback if they are to continue their sponsorship for the long term. Second, if you work for a company or organization that provides products or services of interest to the biology community, please pass this message on to your marketing or marketing communications department or other appropriate group. Please ask them to help support BIOSCI by sponsoring our Web site and explain the uses and benefits of the system to the biology community. If they are interested, they can then contact us for further information at our tech support address, biosci-help@net.bio.net. 1) Using the WWW to access the BIOSCI/bionet newsgroups. -------------------------------------------------------- As of 10 December 1995, all BIOSCI/bionet full newsgroups are accessible through the World Wide Web (WWW) at URL http://www.bio.net. One can read and reply publicly or privately to both recent postings and archived messages through one's Web browser if it is configured properly to send e-mail. Each newsgroup is equipped with its own WAIS index. The main BIOSCI home page also has access to the BIO-JOURNALS Table of Contents database WAIS index and the BIOSCI user address database described in another item further below. 2) What to do about "spams," i.e., junk mail, ads, etc. ------------------------------------------------------- BIOSCI is a set of parallel USENET newsgroups (the "bionet" groups), mailing lists, and a hypermail archive at URL http://www.bio.net/. The same postings are distributed on all media (except for a small number of mailing-list-only groups at net.bio.net). Unfortunately it is becoming a despicable practice on the Internet (by a few people out to make a fast buck) to do automated mass postings to thousands of newsgroups and mailing lists. These attempts to grab free advertising are refered to as "spams" in the usual, somewhat boneheaded, net terminology. USENET is more susceptible to this practice, and many spams originate on the USENET groups and then are passed on to the mailing lists. However, spammers also get lists of mailing addresses and hit these too, so neither medium is immune. What should you do personally if you get junk mail? --------------------------------------------------- Just delete it and move on without reading it further. Filing a protest is becoming increasingly useless because spammers are often disguising the addresses where the messages are sent from. Unless you really understand Internet mail systems, your attempt at protest by sending replies to the message will often end up being sent to the address of an innocent person that the spammer is victimizing. What can BIOSCI/bionet do to protect its newsgroups? ---------------------------------------------------- The only solution currently available is to moderate the newsgroup. If this newsgroup is already moderated, then you are in good shape. Moderation protects the USENET distribution from about 95% of the spams that are being sent to date and protects the mailing lists completely. Moderation means, however, that someone has to take the time to review each message before it goes out. We have set up software here that simply allows the moderator to forward to an address at net.bio.net messages that (s)he wishes to have distributed. This takes no more time than that needed to read the message and pass it on, say about 1 min. per message. Most newsgroups currently have a discussion leader who is responsible for their newsgroup. The discussions leaders and their e-mail addresses are listed in the BIOSCI Information Sheet which is available on the Web at http://www.bio.net/. If a newsgroup is being hit with too many junk postings, please contact the discussion leader for that group and see if there is interest in moderating the group. Please do not assume that by simply posting a complaint to the newsgroup itself, anyone on the BIOSCI staff will act on your complaint. With close to 100 newsgroups to run, the BIOSCI staff has to rely on the discussion leaders of each newsgroup to report problems directly to us at biosci-help@net.bio.net. We will moderate any of our newsgroups if the discussion leader tells us that the readership of the group wishes to do so and if a moderator is willing to do the work. For most BIOSCI/bionet groups, this entails only a few minutes of work each day. Moderating a newsgroup will resolve probably 95% of the junk postings on the USENET distribution. Unfortunately there are easy ways for determined spammers to override the moderation mechanism on USENET, but we can protect our e-mail subscribers from unwanted postings if the newsgroup is moderated. You can also access our newsgroups over the WWW at URL http://www.bio.net. While this Web interface will not stop spammers from trying to post to the groups, this will give you yet another way, besides using USENET news, to keep the junk out of your personal mail files. For those of you with local USENET news systems, the Web interface will also give you faster access to new newsgroups and recent postings. 3) Examples of subscribing and unsubscribing to the mailing lists. ------------------------------------------------------------------ PLEASE NOTE: The BIOSCI management does NOT act on subscription/unsubscription requests that are posted improperly to the newsgroups and mailing lists. People who do this only bother everyone on the lists to no avail. Please be sure to follow the proper procedures below. Gory details are in the BIOSCI Information sheets on the Web at http://www.bio.net. Below we give an example utilizing the METHODS-AND-REAGENTS list at both of our two BIOSCI sites: Users in the Americas and Pacific Rim countries who use the BIOSCI ------------------------------------------------------------------ node at computer net.bio.net: ---------------------------- A) Determine the "listname" which is the <=8 character mail address ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ for the group. These can be found in the BIOSCI Info. Sheet. For the METHODS-AND-REAGENTS group the mailing address is methods@net.bio.net. The listname is the portion of the address to the left of the @ sign, i.e., "methods". The listname is used with the "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" commands illustrated below. B) Mail all commands in the body of a mail message addressed to biosci-server@net.bio.net. Do NOT send commands to the newsgroup posting addresses! Leave the Subject: line blank, any text on it will be ignored. C) In the body of your message put one or more of the following commands with an "end" command on the last line, e.g., subscribe methods unsubscribe methods end Do NOT put your e-mail address or other text on these lines. The server only allows you to cancel your subscription if the address on your mail header matches the address on our mailing list. Please ask for help at biosci-help@net.bio.net if your address has changed, e.g., if you know you are on the list but the server tells you that you are not a member. Users in Europe, Africa, and Central Asia who use the BIOSCI node at -------------------------------------------------------------------- computer daresbury.ac.uk (also known as dl.ac.uk): ------------------------------------------------- To subscribe and unsubscribe to/from the BIOSCI lists, you need to specify the full USENET newsgroup name with "bionet-news." prepended. The USENET newsgroup names are listed in the BIOSCI Information sheet on the Web at http://www.bio.net/. For the METHODS-AND-REAGENTS list the USENET newsgroup name is bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts, thus the appropriate commands are sub bionet-news.bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts unsub bionet-news.bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts These commands are included in a message addressed to mxt@dl.ac.uk, NOT to the newsgroup mailing addresses. As usual, include the text in the body of the message as text on the Subject: line is ignored. To unsubscribe from all the lists at the UK node, use unsub bionet-news Please note that if the address in the list is different than the one in your mail message header, you will not be able to unsubscribe by this method. If you have problems, please mail biosci@daresbury.ac.uk. 4) The BIOSCI user address and research interest directory. ----------------------------------------------------------- Please take this opportunity to add your name, address, and research interest information to the BIOSCI User Address Database if you have not already done so. You can fill out the address form directly through our Web page at URL http://www.bio.net/adrform.html. The address database is reindexed nightly for WWW access (the URL is http://www.bio.net/). If you are not directly on the Internet but can reach it by e-mail, please use our waismail server to access the user directory. waismail use is described above. You can also request a user address form by e-mail from biosci-help@net.bio.net. Please check your database entry from time-to-time to see if your address information is still up-to-date. Because of our limited personnel resources, we ask that you resubmit a *complete* form to revise your entry; we only replace complete entries and do not have resources to edit old forms.