Galaxy Training: A powerful framework for teaching!

There is an ongoing explosion of scientific datasets being generated, brought on by recent technological advances in many areas of the natural sciences. As a result, the life sciences have become increasingly computational in nature, and bioinformatics has taken on a central role in research studies. However, basic computational skills, data analysis, and stewardship are still rarely taught in life science educational programs, resulting in a skills gap in many of the researchers tasked with analysing these big datasets. In order to address this skills gap and empower researchers to perform their own data analyses, the Galaxy Training Network (GTN) has previously developed the Galaxy Training Platform (https://training.galaxyproject.org), an open access, community-driven framework for the collection of FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) training materials for data analysis utilizing the user-friendly Galaxy framework as its primary data analysis platform. Since its inception, this training platform has thrived, with the number of tutorials and contributors growing rapidly, and the range of topics extending beyond life sciences to include topics such as climatology, cheminformatics, and machine learning. While initially aimed at supporting researchers directly, the GTN framework has proven to be an invaluable resource for educators as well. We have focused our efforts in recent years on adding increased support for this growing community of instructors. New features have been added to facilitate the use of the materials in a classroom setting, simplifying the contribution flow for new materials, and have added a set of train-the-trainer lessons. Here, we present the latest developments in the GTN project, aimed at facilitating the use of the Galaxy Training materials by educators, and its usage in different learning environments.

Gfastats: conversion, evaluation and manipulation of genome sequences using assembly graphs.

MOTIVATION: With the current pace at which reference genomes are being produced, the availability of tools that can reliably and efficiently generate genome assembly summary statistics has become critical. Additionally, with the emergence of new algorithms and data types, tools that can improve the quality of existing assemblies through automated and manual curation are required. RESULTS: We sought to address both these needs by developing gfastats, as part of the Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP) effort to generate high-quality reference genomes at scale. Gfastats is a standalone tool to compute assembly summary statistics and manipulate assembly sequences in FASTA, FASTQ or GFA [.gz] format. Gfastats stores assembly sequences internally in a GFA-like format. This feature allows gfastats to seamlessly convert FAST* to and from GFA [.gz] files. Gfastats can also build an assembly graph that can in turn be used to manipulate the underlying sequences following instructions provided by the user, while simultaneously generating key metrics for the new sequences. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: Gfastats is implemented in C++. Precompiled releases (Linux, MacOS, Windows) and commented source code for gfastats are available under MIT licence at https://github.com/vgl-hub/gfastats. Examples of how to run gfastats are provided in the GitHub. Gfastats is also available in Bioconda, in Galaxy (https://assembly.usegalaxy.eu) and as a MultiQC module (https://github.com/ewels/MultiQC). An automated test workflow is available to ensure consistency of software updates. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

A constructivist-based proposal for bioinformatics teaching practices during lockdown.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreaks have caused universities all across the globe to close their campuses and forced them to initiate online teaching. This article reviews the pedagogical foundations for developing effective distance education practices, starting from the assumption that promoting autonomous thinking is an essential element to guarantee full citizenship in a democracy and for moral decision-making in situations of rapid change, which has become a pressing need in the context of a pandemic. In addition, the main obstacles related to this new context are identified, and solutions are proposed according to the existing bibliography in learning sciences.

Fostering accessible online education using Galaxy as an e-learning platform.

The COVID-19 pandemic is shifting teaching to an online setting all over the world. The Galaxy framework facilitates the online learning process and makes it accessible by providing a library of high-quality community-curated training materials, enabling easy access to data and tools, and facilitates sharing achievements and progress between students and instructors. By combining Galaxy with robust communication channels, effective instruction can be designed inclusively, regardless of the students' environments.

Scalable, accessible, and reproducible reference genome assembly and evaluation in Galaxy.

Improvements in genome sequencing and assembly are enabling high-quality reference genomes for all species. However, the assembly process is still laborious, computationally and technically demanding, lacks standards for reproducibility, and is not readily scalable. Here we present the latest Vertebrate Genomes Project assembly pipeline and demonstrate that it delivers high-quality reference genomes at scale across a set of vertebrate species arising over the last ~500 million years. The pipeline is versatile and combines PacBio HiFi long-reads and Hi-C-based haplotype phasing in a new graph-based paradigm. Standardized quality control is performed automatically to troubleshoot assembly issues and assess biological complexities. We make the pipeline freely accessible through Galaxy, accommodating researchers even without local computational resources and enhanced reproducibility by democratizing the training and assembly process. We demonstrate the flexibility and reliability of the pipeline by assembling reference genomes for 51 vertebrate species from major taxonomic groups (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals).