At the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD) at Adelaide University, Associate Professor Bastien Llamas studies the genetic history of past human populations. His work combines genomics, anthropology, archaeology, and bioinformatics to understand how human populations have changed over time and how genomic technologies can help reconstruct the past. 

The research frequently involves collaboration with universities, museums, and research institutes across Australia and around the world. These projects rely on the exchange of large genomic datasets generated by high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies.

To support this work, Dr Llamas and his collaborators use AARNet’s FileSender, a secure service for transferring very large files quickly and reliably. Delivered over AARNet’s high-speed research and education network, FileSender offers a simple browser interface for everyday file sharing without the need for additional software, as well as a command line option for scripted transfers for data on remote servers. This flexibility allows researchers to transfer datasets that are too large for email or many commercial file-sharing platforms, while supporting the reliability and security required for academic research workflows.

Managing the scale of ancient DNA datasets

Ancient DNA research can produce extremely large datasets. A single project can generate hundreds of gigabytes, or even terabytes, of sequencing data that needs to be securely shared with collaborators for downstream population genomics analysis.

“In our field, collaboration is essential,” Dr Llamas explained. “We work with specialists in ancient DNA, Indigenous genomics, archaeology, statistics, and computational biology located across multiple institutions and countries. FileSender provides a straightforward and dependable way to exchange these large genomic datasets stored on remote servers through a simple Python script.”

These collaborations support projects ranging from the study of bison adaptation to changing climates and human demographic history around the world to Australian-focused research on dingo genome diversity, past and present, and their demographic history. Each project requires the secure exchange of large sequencing datasets between specialist teams.

Before adopting FileSender, Dr Llamas’ team used less efficient transfer methods, such as providing collaborators with guest access to institutional servers or manually copying data onto external hard drives and flash storage devices. These approaches were time-consuming and introduced additional risks, as guest users could inadvertently corrupt or delete data, while physical storage devices could be lost, damaged or corrupted during transport.

Supporting collaboration from sequencing to analysis

FileSender is now embedded in the team’s research workflow, helping projects move between sequencing, analysis and interpretation without the delays and risks associated with manual transfer methods. 

For ancient DNA and population genomics research, this capability is particularly valuable. Samples are often irreplaceable, and researchers may need to share sequencing files, genotype datasets and bioinformatics outputs multiple times with different collaborators as analyses progress. 

As genomic datasets continue to grow in size and complexity, services such as FileSender will remain central to ACAD’s ability to collaborate securely with research partners in Australia and overseas.

Photo: Researchers at the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA studying ancient remains. Credit: Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, Adelaide University.