Dr Grant Jacobs
Senior Computational Biologist, BioinfoTools
Dr. Grant Jacobs is an independent senior computational biologist who contracts to research groups and companies via his consultancy, BioinfoTools. Following his undergraduate degree in microbiology and computer science (1986), he taught himself bioinformatics while working as a computer programmer (1987). This lead to a Ph.D. in computational biology in the Structural Studies division of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge University (1992) investigating the structure and function of DNA-binding proteins involved in gene regulation. This was followed by post-doctorates on the role of water molecules in protein-DNA interactions, the genetics of vesico-uteric reflux; then as post-doctorate then research fellow on genomics, working on the Transterm project (http://uther.otago.ac.nz/Transterm.html) over many years. In 2000 he set up independently as a consultant and has had a wide range of contracts, mostly in the area of genomics.
His current research interests include the role of CTCF and nucleosomes in gene regulation, development and disease; the structure and binding specificity of transcription regulatory proteins; and novel algorithms for analysis of DNA and protein sequences. A more recent interest is science communication.
For more information on Grant: http://www.bioinfotools.com
Recent Publications
Transterm: a database to aid the analysis of regulatory sequences in mRNAs.
Jacobs GH, Chen A, Stevens SG, Stockwell PA, Black MA, Tate WP, Brown CM.
Nucleic Acids Res. 2009 Jan;37(Database issue):D72-6. Epub 2008 Nov 4
Transterm--extended search facilities and improved integration with other databases.
Jacobs GH, Stockwell PA, Tate WP, Brown CM.
Nucleic Acids Res. 2006 Jan 1;34(Database issue):D37-40.
The genetics of primary vesico-ureteric reflux.
Eccles MR, Jacobs GH
Ann Acad Med Singapore. 2000 May;29(3):337-45.
Information Science and Bioinformatics
Brown, C.M., Schreiber, M., Chapman, B. and Jacobs, G.H.
(1999, Springer-Verlag) Chapter 13 of Future Directions for Intelligent Systems and Information Science. Issue editor: Prof. N. Kasabov. Series title: "Studies in Fuzziness and Soft Computing. Series Ed. Prof. Janusz Kacprzyk.
Determination of the base recognition positions of zinc fingers from sequence analysis.
Jacobs GH
EMBO J. 1992 Dec;11(12):4507-17