Ten simple rules for computational biologists collaborating with wet lab researchers

Mark D Robinson; Peiying Cai; Martin Emons; Reto Gerber; Pierre-Luc Germain; Samuel Gunz; Siyuan Luo; Giulia Moro; Emanuel Sonder; Anthony Sonrel; Jiayi Wang; David Wissel; Izaskun Mallona

doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012174

Ten simple rules for computational biologists collaborating with wet lab researchers

PLoS Comput Biol. 2024 Jun 20;20(6):e1012174. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012174. eCollection 2024 Jun.

Authors

Mark D Robinson^{1

2}, Peiying Cai^{1

2}, Martin Emons^{1

2}, Reto Gerber^{1

2}, Pierre-Luc Germain^{1

2

3}, Samuel Gunz^{1

2}, Siyuan Luo^{1

2}, Giulia Moro¹, Emanuel Sonder^{1

2

3}, Anthony Sonrel^{1

2}, Jiayi Wang^{1

2}, David Wissel^{1

2}, Izaskun Mallona^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
² SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Zurich, Switzerland.
³ D-HEST Institute for Neuroscience, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

Abstract

Computational biologists are frequently engaged in collaborative data analysis with wet lab researchers. These interdisciplinary projects, as necessary as they are to the scientific endeavor, can be surprisingly challenging due to cultural differences in operations and values. In this Ten Simple Rules guide, we aim to help dry lab researchers identify sources of friction and provide actionable tools to facilitate respectful, open, transparent, and rewarding collaborations.

Copyright: © 2024 Robinson et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

MeSH terms

Computational Biology*
Cooperative Behavior*
Humans
Research Personnel*

Grants and funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.