iCREATE at TGen North

The CAVIAT bioscience students from Williams High School toured TGen North on April 6th. Teacher Michael Lee brought the class to the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Flagstaff to learn about the research projects being done there and to tour the state-of-the-art research facilities.

TGen North and CAVIAT are key partners in a 3-year grant awarded to the Center for Science Teaching and Learning at NAU from the National Science Foundation. This project will test a model of community engagement in an innovative problem-based high school bioscience course. Other partners are North Country Health Care, the Northern Arizona Area Health Education Center, the Coconino County Health Department, and the Winslow Indian Care Center. You can read more about the iCREATE Project and how YOU can be a part of this initiative here.

Mike Valentine, Research Associate at TGen North, is assisting the iCREATE (Innovative Collaborative Research Experience and Technical Education) Project develop a deeper understanding of the genomics and bioengineering that takes place when a disease sample comes to TGen North or other bioscience research facilities.

Mike showed students the computer used to store the genetic data from the TGen sequencers. This computer can store the equivalent of 512 years of music with no repeats! However, this data capacity is easily used up when you consider the genome size of of even microscopic organisms

Mike describes the machine that is programmed to automatically fill the well chambers for analysis.

NAU Undergraduate Erik Lemkuhl (below) describes his work to the students. Erik began at TGen in the prestigious Helios Scholars internship program last summer, and was so successful that TGen North hired him as a paid intern. Erik primarily works on Tuberculosis. Congratulations to Erik as he begins his doctoral work at the University of Arizona next semester.

Below, Mike explains the flow cell from the Illumina MiSeq sequencers. The flow cell contains the DNA libraries (samples) that TGen North is interested in sequencing. He also showed them the small USB-like sequencer called the Oxford Nanopore MinION. The technological advances since the Human Genome Project (1990-2003) are staggering, and the costs per sequence, time needed for each sequence, and sizes of the sequencers have all decreased dramatically.

Several of the students in the class are applying summer experiences, including a Health Camp. If you are in a health or bioscience profession and would be willing to have a student shadow you at your job or do an internship, please contact the STEM Coordinator.

Michael Lee's CAVIAT Bioscience Class from Williams High School