Genome assembly validation: Common assembly issues and strategies for improvement
Despite the ever advancing improvements in sequencing technologies and assembly algorithms, we are sadly still not able to produce error-free assemblies for eukaryotes in an automated fashion. To bridge the gap and significantly improve the generated assemblies, Kerstin’s team have developed a manual curation process using gEVAL that is compatible with a high throughput environment.
In this webinar, Kerstin will describe this process, its application within the Vertebrate Genomes Project and the Darwin Tree of Life Project and its impact. She will also make recommendations for applying manual curation to assemblies in a gEVAL-independent context to facilitate the uptake by the wider community.
Dr Kerstin Howe started working at the Sanger Institute in 2000 after gaining a PhD in genetics from Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, Germany. After 2 years working on the reference annotation for the human and C. elegans genomes, she formed her own team to analyse and improve genome assemblies. Her team initially focused on the zebrafish genome assembly, and subsequently expanded in scope to the human, mouse and chicken reference assemblies as a founding member of the Genome Reference Consortium in 2008. Kerstin and her team lead the validation of the assemblies produced by the Vertebrate Genome Sequencing Project and the Darwin Tree of Life Project.
Presenter: Dr Kerstin Howe, Senior Scientific Manager, Genome Reference Informatics, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
Date/time: 24 Sep 2020 - 16:00-17:00 AEST / 14:00-15.00 AWST