Department of Biosciences, University of Wah, organized a "Biological Data Mining in the Age of AI" workshop on 22 May 2024. This activity aimed to educate participants on biological data mining and bioinformatics, AI methods used to analyze biological data, and the role of AI in bioinformatics research, with a focus on drug discovery, genomics, and personalized medicine. Dr. Ammad Aslam Khan, a renowned expert in the field of bioinformatics and Assistant Professor in the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Department, Virtual University, Pakistan, was the resource person, and Ms. Bilquees Bano, Lecturer, Department of Biosciences, was the focal person of the event. The workshop, led by Dr. Khan, focused on acquiring large biological datasets from valuable resources and exploring the foundation for utilizing biological data in the age of artificial intelligence. The session was a dynamic mix of lectures, discussions, hands-on activities using bioinformatics tools, large-scale biological data using Essential Data Resources, e.g., NCBI (National Centre for Biotechnology Information). BioMart is an extensive repository of biological databases, including GenBank for nucleotide sequences and protein structures and Ensembl, a genome browser that provides comprehensive gene and variation information. BioMart is a powerful tool for retrieving biological data from Ensembl and a single access point for retrieving data from multiple bioinformatics databases. The target audience was graduate and undergraduate students and young researchers interested in the intersection of bioinformatics and artificial intelligence. At the end of the workshop, participants gained a deeper understanding of data retrieval techniques, including using NCBI and Ensembl BioMart for AI analysis, data format Conversion, and the importance of compatible data formats (e.g., CSV) for AI tools.
