Who Grows There is an outreach activity supported by the Ferens Educational Trust and Biochemical Society
Genome Sequencing in Action
In this activity we explore how genome sequencing technologies can help us understand the microbiome, and identify all the species present in a given environment.
The microbiome refers to all of the microorganisms that live in a particular location. This might include bacteria, fungi, yeasts and other single celled organisms. There are as many bacterial cells living in your body as there are human cells in your body. Most of these bacteria are either harmless or even beneficial to your health, but some might be pathogenic i.e. can cause disease. Knowing which species of bacteria are present can help identify what disease a patient has, or what treatments might be most effective.
Resources for Class Activity
Link to Laboratory Manual (GoogleDoc)
Link to Sequence Files on Box
Link to BLAST online sequence comparison tool
To view the overall sequencing result file, please do the following:
- Download the file 16S_sequencing_output.html so it appears at the bottom of your browser window
- Drag the .html file into the top of the browser so it becomes a new tab. An interactive pie chart should appear – if you can’t open the file ask a demonstrator for help.
Hull Biology Outreach 