Source distributions and Windows installers for Biopython 1.66 are now available from the downloads page on the official Biopython website and from the Python Package Index (PyPI). This release of Biopython supports Python 2.6, 2.7, 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5, although support for Python 2.6 is now deprecated.

We are pleased to announce the release of BioRuby 1.5.0. This new release includes support of recent Ruby versions (Ruby 2.0.0, 2.1 and 2.2),  improvement of codes, and bug fixes. Here is a brief summary of changes. Ruby 2.0.0, 2.1, 2.2 support. Some features are removed because of remote service discontinuance or difficulty of code maintenance. Refactoring of code. Bio::SPTR is renamed as Bio::UniProtKB. Bug fixes.

Every year, BOSC includes a panel discussion that offers all attendees the chance to engage in conversation with the panelists and each other.

Agenda Venue: to be held by conference call on May 12, 2015, 1pm EDT (17:00 UTC, 18:00 BST, 19:00 CEST, 10am PDT)

The next public Board of Directors Meeting of the OBF will take place on May 12th, 2015, at 17:00 UTC (1pm EDT, 10am PDT, 19:00 CEST, see World Clock). The developing agenda for the meeting is posted, as are the dial-in details. We will have Board elections at this meeting. The terms of Directors Jason Stajich and Chris Dagdigian expire, and they will both step down from the Board.

The Bioinformatics Open Source Conference (BOSC) has always been about community. Launched in 2000, BOSC aims to provide a forum for both bioinformatics developers and users to share ideas and code and learn about the latest developments in open source bioinformatics and open science.

(This is a repost of a BLOG on Google Open Source news about Google’s open source student programs and software releases) One of our goals with GSoC is to inspire young developers to participate in open source development, hopefully continuing well beyond the summer.

Announcing the keynote speakers for the Bioinformatics Open Source Conference, BOSC 2015: Holly Bik Dr Holly Bik is a Birmingham Fellow (assistant professor) in the School of Biosciences at the University of Birmingham, UK. She obtained her Ph.D. in molecular phylogenetics at the University of Southampton, UK (working in conjunction with the Natural History Museum, London), followed by subsequent postdoctoral appointments at the Hubbard

Call for Abstracts for the 16th Annual Bioinformatics Open Source Conference (BOSC 2015), a Special Interest Group (SIG) of ISMB/ECCB 2015.

Last year’s Google Summer of Code 2014 was very productive for the OBF with six students working on Bio* and related bioinformatics projects. We applied to be part of GSoC 2015, but unfortunately this year were not accepted. Google’s program is enormously popular, and over-subscribed, meaning Google has had to rotate organisation membership. The OBF is grateful to have been accepted in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014.

In 2014, OBF had six students in the Google Summer of Code 2014™ (GSoC) program mentored under its umbrella of Bio* and related open-source bioinformatics community projects: Loris Cro (Bioruby) with mentors Francesco Strozzi and Raoul Bonnal; Evan Parker (Biopython) with mentors Wibowo Arindrarto and Peter Cock; Sarah Berkemer (BioHaskell) with mentors Christian Höner zu Siederdissen and Ketil Malde;