To start off their Nuffield visit at TGAC, Senior Computational Biologist (Vertebrate & Health Genomics) Graham Etherington spoke to the students, aged 16-17, about how the genome analysis institute uses their latest cutting-edge technologies and science expertise to improve plant, animal and human health.
Highlighting current research projects such as the koala genome, Cichlid fish diversity, Yellow Rust in wheat surveillance and monitoring plant pathogens with the Nanopore MinION ‘AirSeq’ project, Dr Etherington explained how the scientists use genomics and bioinformatics to carry out novel research in new areas.
The tour of the TGAC’s sequencing labs and High Performance Computing (HPC) facilities; one of the largest data centres in Europe for life science research, allowed the students to experience first-hand some of the genomic technologies that the scientists use in their research.
The visit’s host Dr Etherington, commented: “I was very pleased with the positive feedback we got back from the students, where they found the visit educational, interesting and entertaining!
“The students told us they were particularly impressed when I took them from the PacBio machine (similar in size to a smart car) to the Oxford Nanopore Technologies MinION, which is the size of a large USB stick in our state-of-the-art suite of next generation sequencing technologies.
“They were also interested in understanding how the sequencing process works and how our scientists at TGAC overcome the problem of sequencing ‘repeats’, where long sections of DNA with the same short sequence recur over and over.”
Following on from the last Nuffield placement in TGAC’s wet labs with Platforms & Pipelines Team Leader Darren Heavens, the Institute is planning four-week placements for next summer including Dr Etherington offering an exciting new project on Wildlife Genomics.
Nuffield Foundation is a charitable trust that aims to improve young people’s social well-being through education, research and innovation in science. Nuffield Foundation Research Placements are available in UK universities, commercial companies, voluntary organisations and research institutions. Norwich Research Park are hosting thirteen student placements this year.
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For more information, please contact:
Hayley London
Marketing & Communications Officer, The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC)
T: +44 (0)1603 450107
E: [email protected]
For more information, please contact:
Hayley London
Marketing & Communications Officer, The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC)
T: +44 (0)1603 450107
E: [email protected]