Crowdsourcing Genomics II: Unveiling HINdeR and Phrux
About this time last year, I posted about a new course I was going to teach, Phage Genomics. Briefly:
Phage isolation, electron microscopy, DNA sequencing in the first semester, annotation and comparative genomics in the second. And I get to teach the bioinformatics bit: annotation and comparative genomics. Woo-hoo! The great thing about this course, is that unlike most lab courses, the students (and faculty) will be setting up experiments intended not only to teach, but also to discover something new. Also, the results of the research are meaningful. Genomics data generated by student participants will be used by other researchers to answer medical, ecological, and evolutionary scientific questions
The students isolated, sequenced and annotated two previously unknonwn mycobacteriophages, HINdeR and Phrux. The links are to the Mycobacteriophage Database phagesdb.org where the sequences and associated metadata (where and when HINdeR and Phrux were found and isolated) can be found. The annotations will be there shortly.
I had a great time teaching this course, together with Mitch Balish from my department, who is not only a great teacher, but shares my vice for keeping the students guessing when we are being serious and when we are kidding. Mitch is the guy with the goatee in the short sleeved shirt; I’m the one in the black sweatshirt. Here’s what the students had to say about the course (original site at Miami University). Mitch starts talking at 2:57, I’m at 4:08, Gary Janssen (who taught the first semester) is at 5:08:
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