DNA60: A special bioinformatics challenge from Genome Biology
Introduction
The Bioinformatics Challenge is an event held each year at Beyond The Genome, a conference hosted by Genome Biology together with our sister journal Genome Medicine.
The challenge, run each year on the conference's Informatics day, involves the deciphering of a hidden code within a package of sequence data, using all the computational biology skills that the participants can muster.
A special DNA Day challenge
In honor of the 60th anniversary of the publication of the three Nature papers that first described the structure of DNA, Genome Biology is running a special ultra-tricky, multi-step Bioinformatics Challenge, starting today (Monday April 22nd) and ends on DNA day itself, this Thursday (April 25th).
Unlike the usual one-step puzzle run at Beyond The Genome conferences, the DNA Day challenge consists of a number of steps unfolding over a number of days. The solution to one step then becomes the key to unlocking the next step as follows:
Today (Monday April 22nd): Step 1 – a mini-challenge, live from noon Eagle Time (1 pm CET/noon BST/7 am ET/4 am PT)
Today (Monday April 22nd): Step 2 – live from 5 pm Eagle Time (6 pm CET/5 pm BST/noon ET/9 am PT)
Tuesday April 23rd: Step 3 – live from 5 pm Eagle Time (6 pm CET/5 pm BST/noon ET/9 am PT)
Wednesday April 24th: Step 4 – live from 5 pm Eagle Time (6 pm CET/5 pm BST/noon ET/9 am PT)
Thursday April 25th: Step 5 – live from 5 pm Eagle Time (6 pm CET/5 pm BST/noon ET/9 am PT)
All steps will remain live until the conclusion of the challenge.
Curators
We are very fortunate that Michael Schatz (CSHL) and James Taylor (Emory/Galaxy) have kindly agreed to curate this challenge. We are very grateful for their time and effort, as well as their good humor and enthusiasm.
How to get to each step
Step 1 is available from the link at the foot of this page. For subsequent steps, the URL is formed based on the answer to the previous step: http://genomebiology.com/about/update/DNA60_ANSWER
For example, if the answer for Step 1 is 'OPENSESAME', then the URL for Step 2 will be http://genomebiology.com/about/update/DNA60_OPENSESAME
Prizes
Winner: iPad
Two runners-up: your choice of a Beyond The Genome registration or a year’s subscription to Genome Biology.
Winner announcements
Provided that we have enough correct solutions by that time, the winner and runners-up will be announced at 8 pm Eagle Time on DNA Day, which in layman's terms is 9 pm CET/8 pm BST/3 pm ET/noon PT, Thursday April 25th.
UPDATE: The winners and answers have now been announced.
The answers
We will post the full answers to the challenge within days of its conclusion, so keep your eyes open for that if you were unable to complete any of the steps.
Any questions? Email: dna60ifx@gmail.com Tweet: #DNA60IFX / @genomebiology
>>>BEGIN THE CHALLENGE AT STEP 1 HERE<<<
HAVE FUN!
