In January, open-source bioinformaticists will participate in the first international "bio hackathon" — a programming event coordinated with the O’Reilly Bioinformatics Technology Conference in Tucson, Ariz., and co-produced by Electric Genetics in Cape Town, South Africa. The hackathon will take place in two parts over eight weeks and is intended to encourage collaboration and new ideas among various open-source bioinformatics groups.