Sanger

     On Wednesday afternoon, we all boarded a large bus to travel to Hinxton, where the Sanger Institute, the largest genome research center in Europe, is located.  There, the class was given two lectures by resident scientists involved in different aspects of DNA sequencing, and a tour through the facility.  Below are photos of the field trip.


We take the bus!



We arrive at the Sanger Institute in time for a little rain



The facility is very large and modern -- different from Cambridge!



Steve Scott welcomes the group to the Sanger



Dr. Darren Logan lectured the group on instinctive behavior
and the genetics of fear



Dr. Matt Berriman lectured on parasite genomics,
with a focus on malaria and worms



The class is then split into two different groups for a tour of the Institute



This is a sequence is a tiny sliver of the "X" chromosome.
Each letter [ATC or G] is about the same size of this font.
That large sheet of paper covers 20 feet of ATC or Gs.
It would take 100 of these sheets to make the whole chromosome.



Our tour continues through labs and a review of sequencing equipment
and we get to put on lab coats.



Ian and Eileen, wearing lab coats, pose in front of PacBio DNA sequencer.
Retail price?  1.5 million pounds.

 

Although hard to see through the reflection of the students in the glass,
this is the Sanger's data storage room.  It's a big one.

 

The half of the class on this tour pose in front of the data storage room.



Time for us to leave the Sanger!