It was during a workshop which took place from the 24th to 28th February 2025 at CRID, with an aim to democratise and decentralise Omics skills in-house.
Trainees accompanied by their facilitators and the PI of the project
This enriching experience began on Monday, February 24th in the conference room of floor 4. Among the participants were Ph.D students, research assistants, post-doctoral research assistants and Information Technology (IT) staff. The workshop was designed to provide beginner to intermediate-level participants in biology, entomology, biotechnology and related fields with a comprehensive foundation in bioinformatics and vector genomics data analysis. The facilitators where Gadji Mahamat, Raoul Tazokong and Arnaud Tepa, Research assistants at CRID, as well as Cédrique Noutchih, Bioinformatician.
Day-1 was dedicated to theoretical sessions. Trainees were introduced to principles of bioinformatics and were given a comprehensive overview of next-generation sequencing, including comparisons with Sanger sequencing. They proceeded with an introduction to transcriptomics, before concluding with an introduction to genomics. The following days focused on hands-on sessions. Participants had practical activities on RNA-seq data analysis. They were guided through the quality control process using FastQC and MultiQC (bioinformatics tools) to assess short reads sequence integrity, followed by practical exercises in sequence alignment using hisat2 (a bioinformatics tool used for aligning DNA sequencing reads to a reference genome). In addition, trainees had a practical session on data visualisation in R, during which they learned how to use basic R Studio commands to generate informative plots, graphs, and tables essential for exploratory data analysis. The last hands-on session of the training focused on PoolSeq whole genome sequence analyses for detection of signatures of selective sweeps and alternative splicing analysis using RNA-Seq data (the information generated by sequencing the RNA molecules present in a cell, tissue or organism). During these sessions, trainees learned how to analyse big data using various bioinformatics tools and Command-Line Interface in Linux. Throughout the training, CRID’s IT unit provided a reliable network connectivity and ensured effective access to the server for the trainees.
Participants during a hands-on session
This bioinformatics training indoors is the first of a long range of training sessions to be organised as part of the African centre for Vector Genomics (AVecGen) project. It therefore falls under one of AVecGen’s aim, which is establishing a training path for capacity building in vector genomics in Africa. The opening and closing ceremonies of the workshop were chaired by Prof. Charles Wondji, Principal Investigator of the project. Overall, participants felt enriched by the skills acquired during the training, as could express Dr Mewamba Estelle. “I feel more confident in handling genomic data. Although I will master all the concepts with time, at least I am no more afraid of the black screen”, she said. A feeling shared by Josiane Bianda in her closing remarks, as she says, “One week ago, I didn’t know anything about genes. Thanks to facilitators’ explanations, I now have a better understanding of what it’s all about and how to analyse related data”
