Project Description
- Literature Review and Theoretical Background
- Understand what PHA is
- Understand what ONT sequencing is and what the difference is between full metagenomic sequencing and 16S rRNA gene sequencing.
- Have an understanding of bacterial communities
- Bioinformatics Analysis:
- Perform quality control on all sequencing data based on literature
- Perform the metagenomic data analysis and understand the existing pipeline
- Create your own 16S pipeline and compare existing 16S tools
- Interpret sequencing data, existing and novel bioinformatic tools to define the bacterial species.
- Comparative Analysis and Reporting:
- Compare the performance of the metagenomic and 16S pipeline based on efficiency, time and content of the microbial community.
- Document experimental procedures, results, and analyses in a detailed project report.
Expected Outcomes
- A pipeline to get an enhanced understanding of the microbial communities (from PHA samples) via 16S.
- A comparison of the 16S and metagenomics pipeline.
- Comprehensive project report with recommendations for the best pipeline.
Skills and Competencies Gained
- Hands-on experience with bioinformatics (in metagenomics)
- Knowledge of metagenomic sequencing, bioinformatics, and microbial community analysis.
- Experience in data analysis, reporting, and project management.
Duration
This internship project will span 20-30 weeks, with a structured timeline for literature review, experimental work, data analysis, and reporting. The start of the project will be from 3rd February 2025.
Mentorship and Guidance
The intern will be supervised by experienced researchers and professionals in biotechnology and bioinformatics (MNEXT-Smart Fermentation, Bazante Sanders and Tim Verschuren), with regular progress reviews and support to ensure the successful completion of project objectives.